The College Years(A Sequel to Alice's Side of Sapphie's Story)
by AliceSon13
Summary: This is a sequel to Alice's Side of Sapphie's Story.Everyone's back, Goku, Alice, Sapphie, Miku, Nora and Kari. This story focuses a little more around Alice and Goku though, what's going on? Find out! (I've changed this to a "Normal" fan fiction because Alice is my character. She doesn't share personality traits with Alice from Twilight, she shares personality traits with me.)
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: to whom it may concern, any followers of Alice's Side of Sapphie's Story or new readers to this. THIS IS A SEQUEL TO ALICE'S SIDE OF SAPPHIE'S STORY. If you haven't read that story, I encourage you to go read it. Thank you without further ado, here is Chapter 1 of The College Years.**_

**The College Years**

Chapter 1: Reunion.

It had been six months since we graduated. Everyone had been so busy in those six months it was almost impossible to get everyone on the phone together or to get everyone together in general.

Sapphie and Nora dropped by almost every weekend throughout the semester and would hang out with Goku and me when we weren't working or immersed in school work. Goku and I now worked part-time for every season, not just the summer. I mostly waited tables and cleaned while Goku washed the kitchen and dishes . . . especially after the problem . . . but I'll get to that in a moment.

Since Sapphie and Kari were now somewhere else full time, they had no time to work. This is why as summer started coming to an end, Sapphie convinced our short, chubby Texan manager to take Goku on part-time in place of her for when she became a full-time student. It took a lot of arguing but it finally worked and Goku was taken on part-time with me.

Goku was a hard worker . . . he just . . . wasn't too bright sometimes. Since he had normally been busy with sports over the summers, it had been Goku's very first summer job, or job in general. Sapphie and I trained him to our best ability, but he was very hard to manage when surrounded by food.

At first he was placed in charge of cooking and preparing pizzas but that stopped very fast. Customers started complaining about missing slices out of their pizzas. It would explain why he wasn't hungry when he came home for dinner. He took a slice out of EVERY pizza. I noticed the first time he did it and scolded him to make him stop . . . but that's when he just started doing it to take out orders and delivery orders.

The manager wanted to fire him directly after this but because Sapphie and I put our jobs on the line for him, he was kept as staff and swiftly improved at his job. So, now that Sapphie is gone, Goku and I wait tables and clean up the place amongst a few other workers but not many. Most of them were part time students as well and then there were a few who worked full time. Either way, Goku and I put in a lot of overtime in order to get as much money as possible.

On this particular night, it was Friday night in December; a week before Christmas Eve. Goku and I were closing up the restaurant, cleaning all that was messy. We also cooked a few more pizzas before we left (paying of course), so we could have a Friday night date of sorts.

I stood at the door, waiting, leaning against the wall and felt the cold air seep through the cracks of the door and the freezing cold based on how cold the brick wall was. Goku was cleaning up the cutter blades and putting them away. I leaned my head against the wall as my tiredness began to take over. It had been a long day and I needed sleep, desperately. Hugging myself in a futile attempt to keep warm, I dozed off.

A few moments later, or so it seemed, I felt warmth around me as I woke up. I smelled Goku's scent and his stench from where he had worked all day and I was wrapped in his coat with the pizza boxes on top of me.

He was running, causing me to bounce in his arms and that's when I noticed the snow falling down in bucket loads.

"GOKU!" I yelled, growling angrily.

Goku shouted in shock and nearly dropped me, stopping dead in his tracks looking down at me.

"What, What is it?" He asked frantically.

I growled harder. "Goku Son, get this extra coat off of me RIGHT NOW mister! You'll be sick! Are you crazy? I appreciate your chivalry but it is freezing!"

He laughed setting me down in the snow, slipping his coat off of me and when he had it back on he took the pizzas from me, held them in one hand and held me close to him with his other arm as we began the long walk back to the house.

The wind whipped our cheeks leaving nothing but red in its place. We both shivered and began running as fast as we could. I could have sworn that with each step the snow was getting deeper and deeper.

We finally reached the house and by that time the snow was nearly to my ankles. I quickly pushed my key into the lock and opened the door as we entered the freezing cold house. It felt just as cold inside as it did outside. The power was definitely out.

I groaned as I flopped on the couch, sliding my work shoes and socks off. Goku managed to slowly make his way to the pitch black kitchen and sat our dinner down. When I heard a match strike and saw that two candles were lit and saw them move into the dining room I entered the dining room and sat near Goku. He served me sparkling water and two huge slabs of pizza. As I picked at them, he began to demolish an entire pizza.

Eventually I finished a slice so as he was finishing his dinner, I took one of the candles and made my way upstairs and took a cold shower since there was no hot water. I dressed in my baggy, comfy pajamas before entering my new bedroom and sitting on the bed, brushing my hair.

Goku and Nora had the master bedroom of the house. Sapphie and Kari had the second biggest then Miku and I had our own rooms that were of average size. Since everyone had gone off for military training and to college, Goku and I got comfortable enough with each other to share a bed, not to mention my mattress was becoming extremely comfy and his bed frame was falling apart. It was a cheap mattress and it wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world to sleep on but we put a foam cover under the sheets to make it comfortable. When Nora and Sapphie were home however, we took turns using the bed. Sapphie and I would share it and so would Nora and Goku.

Usually, if a couple began sleeping in the same bed together it meant that they have engaged in sexual intercourse. This was not the case with Goku and me. We had only gone as far as seeing each other naked. He always had condoms but I didn't want to have sex yet. Anytime we would start it would burn out with a make out session.

Just as I finished brushing out my hair, I heard Goku march up the stairs and start a shower. I lied down upon the cold sheets, rubbing my bare feet against their smooth texture. I eased the quilt up over myself and relaxed my body, beginning to drift into sleep.

By the time I was half asleep, Goku woke me up by getting into the bed and spreading extra blankets over us. I groaned slightly, still shivering from the freezing cold that swept through the house as the wind continued to whip and crack.

He pulled me close to him kissing me, rubbing my shoulders and kissing me with a clean shaven mouth. His hands slowly eased down my back and my sides and I smiled gently I felt his hot breath on my neck and my ears.

"We didn't get much of a date this evening . . ." he whispered, softly.

He began to kiss on my neck as I kept blushing but shivered. He was seducing me . . . and it was working although I was exhausted. His large hand began to graze down my pajama pants and touched my panty line causing me to quiver and melt in his touch. I sat up suddenly and looked over him, deciding tonight was going to be the night. I wanted to make love to the man I loved more than anyone.

I sat up on my knees and Goku stared up at me, looking surprised and confused but sat up to grab me by the waist. I straddled him and pinned his chest down, kissing him deeply. I could see his face outlined in the darkness and he was biting his lip, nervously. He held me by my waist and stared up at me in disbelief.

"Goku . . ." I whispered. "I want you . . . so bad . . . I'm ready for this . . . for you. Please . . ."

He rolled over pinning me down and kissing me aggressively. He was pulling off my pajamas and I tugged at the waistband of his boxers; his hips bucking in response. He started kissing me slowly, thickly, his tongue encasing mine in a lock as his large warm rough hands caressed my body and made their way across my breasts to my ribs, my hips and finally to my panties. He tugged at the waistband on my panties and looked me dead in the eye, even in the darkness.

"Alice . . . are you sure?" Goku whispered, giving me one last chance to decline.

I nodded. "Yes Goku . . . I'm sure . . . please . . ."

He slowly tug my panties off, caressing my thighs gently, making a soft moan escape my lips as my body shivered and tingled in response. I breathed in and out excitedly but slowly trying to stay quiet.

He climbed out of bed for a moment and went to his nightstand, opening it and pulling out a condom and opening it up, turning away to put it on. I still lied in bed, shifting as the tingles raged through my body. He crawled back into bed, his huge form over top of me, in between my legs, kissing me as passionately as he could muster. I felt his hard manhood pressing against my opening and me. I moaned softly again into his kiss and thrusts my hips up, ready to get the first penetration over with . . . then the most embarrassing thing happened.

The door flew open and Nora fell in as Sapphie stood behind him, holding her cheap cell phone using it as a light source, her face twisted in a shocked and slightly freaked out expression. I squealed in pure terror, pulling the quilt over our naked forms, causing Goku to flip off of the bed and land on the floor with a loud thud.

Nora stood up laughing harder than I had ever seen him laugh before and I growled feeling as if I would faint any moment.

"I knew you two were fucking each other!" Nora exclaimed, jumping up and don where he stood.

"Get out! GET OUT RIGHT NOW! You should have knocked! GET OUT!" I screamed over and over until finally he exited the room and I heard him head downstairs.

I went over to Goku and helped him off the floor and we put our clothes back on. We didn't look at each other's embarrassed faces and finally he took my hand when we headed downstairs. Nora and Sapphie sat at the dining room table with a few lit candles and we sat near them as it began to grow awkward. I took a candle and went into the kitchen and poured everyone a glass of milk and served everyone.

"So . . . be honest . . . do you guys-" Nora began but stopped when Goku punched him.

Goku held my hand under the table, squeezing it for support.

"So you two just _sleep _together?" Nora questioned again wiggling his eyebrows up and down.

"Yes Nora . . . you know we do . . ." I growled in response.

"Um . . . then what was that? . . ." Sapphie asked subtly looking down awkwardly.

I stayed silent for a few moments and sighed. "None of your business . . ."

"HA! I KNEW IT! YOU WERE ABOUT TO HAVE SEX!" Nora shouted.

"So what if we were? I know you and Kari have had plenty of action before she left." I rattled off to him, causing his face to flush extremely deep crimson.

Goku finally spoke again. "Maybe we should just all go to bed. Miku and Kari are supposed to be here tomorrow and we're going tree hunting, remember?"

"Yeah you're right, night everyone! I'll sleep on the couch!" Nora shouted, slamming his milk and going to the couch, lying down.

Without another word, Goku kissed me then Sapphie and I headed upstairs and took the double bed that I almost had my first sexual encounter in. There was an awkward silence between us as we eased into bed and she finally said it.

"So . . . have you two ever really? . . ." She asked.

"No . . . we haven't . . . but it felt so right tonight . . . but I guess it was wrong." I began to laugh and curled up in the blankets.

Sapphie laughed a little too. "I can't wait to see Miku again tomorrow . . . I'm so excited I don't think I can sleep."

By then, I was already half asleep and fell into a deep slumber.

The next day I woke up and I sat up quickly and hit my head on something really hard, causing me to squeal and rub my head. Goku was calling my name out but it sounded fuzzy now that I hit my head. I fell against the floor then realized I was under the bed. Goku grabbed my hand, pulling me out from under the bed.

"There you are! We were looking all over for you! We wondered where you went! It's almost time to go get Miku and Kari!" Goku explained.

I leaned my throbbing head with a growing knot on his chest and he hugged me and handed me my outfit I had laid out and left me to get changed. I changed into the clothes and the next thing I knew we were standing in the thick snow waiting for Miku and Kari to be dropped off.

Sapphie's eyes were kept solely in place as she waited for the bus to pull up. Nora paced a lot and Goku and I stood locked together in place, waiting. Finally, through the thick winter fog a large bus pulled up and stopped letting Kari and Miku off who were both much more in shape and their hair looked different. Sapphie ran up to Miku and hugged him as the bus pulled away and Nora hugged Kari tight as well, but she pushed him into the snow, laughing, helping him back up and kissing him.

I saluted them and hugged them. They were dressed in their uniforms and Miku gave me a noogie. Just like old times, we were all together to celebrate the holidays. As that one song says, we were reunited and it felt so good.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Like Old Times.

By the time we had obtained this year's tree and fixed up nice and pretty, everyone was exhausted. Kari and Miku had already been somewhat tired from traveling so I helped everyone get settled and then made dinner. The power was back on half way through the afternoon and we were relieved by the heat. I made a small meal of soup and sandwiches and served everyone.

After this, it became like any other dinner we had except one detail.

"God Alice, I hate to admit it but I missed your cooking." Miku said, making everyone turn to look at him. I dropped my spoon and stared at Miku in complete silence. He hadn't complimented my cooking in years . . . I knew he liked it or he wouldn't eat leftovers . . . but this was . . . unbelievable!

Miku's eyes narrowed and part of his old behavior while he was around us was returning. "What the hell?! Why did everyone get so quiet?! Her food is good okay? It could be worse . . ." his frown turned into a grin as he looked at Sapphie. "Sapphie could be the one cooking."

Sapphie whimpered. "So I can't cook all that great, so what?"

Miku laughed and put an arm around Sapphie and hugged her to him and I laughed a little, picking around at my food. Goku sat next to me, eating his food as if it were the first meal he has had in days. Nora and Kari were now whispering quietly to each other with grins on their faces . . . yuck.

I heard Goku's glass bowl hit the tabletop as he sat it down. He smiled and belched lightly patting his stomach then picked his bowl back up, turning to me. "Is there any more soup?"

I nodded and went to get him some more soup. I took my place back at his side after making him another sandwich and nibbled at my food a bit. Miku laughed and cleared his throat.

"So . . . you two have been here together . . . um . . . ALONE?" he asked raising his eyebrows.

I blushed and turned away, really embarrassed. "Yes . . . where do you think we should go?"

"You share a bed now?" He asked again.

I blushed even harder and I heard Goku's sounds diminish quickly. "Yes . . . we do . . . our beds are getting old . . . and lumpy." Goku said seriously.

Miku laughed and laughed and just looked at Goku and me. We stared back at him in confusion and embarrassment until finally I pushed my food away, excusing myself and heading upstairs to calm myself down. I sat on our bed and caressed the smooth, cool white sheets, sighing to myself, rocking back and forth, growing nervous.

Everyone still sat at the table where they had when Alice excused herself. The attention was now on Goku and Miku laughed again then finally asked.

"So have you popped the question yet? Since you're sharing the same bed an all . . . and since you almost-"

Goku cut him off. "No . . . I haven't popped the question yet . . ." he blushed before continuing. "But . . . I'm . . . thinking about it."

Sapphie and Nora cooed. "AWWWWWW!"

Kari laughed hard at the thought and Miku remained silent, thinking about it, and then just finished his dinner. Goku continued to blush heavily and scratched the top of his head, not sure what to say then finally said.

"Don't tell Alice . . . promise?" Goku asked.

Everyone agreed.

Since everyone was tired, we all went to bed. Goku and the boys gave Kari, Sapphie and me the bedroom with the big bed. So there we were in the big king-sized bed together. Kari and I were on the edges and Sapphie was in the middle and then we began to act like we were having a sleepover and talked instead of sleeping.

"I missed you guys . . ." Kari said quietly.

"How did everything go for you? You barely called . . . I know you went through your heavy training . . . but then what happened?" I asked.

"Miku and I both were sent to help with the mess from the hurricane. They said it wasn't as bad as hurricane Katrina but it still made quite a mess. We were also sent to Tennessee where there was a horrific tornado and there was a state of emergency . . . so that's where we've been for the past few months." She explained.

Sapphie laughed a little, scratching the top of her head and smiling. "And I thought college was hard . . ."

"Alice what have you been doing?" Kari asked me. "The last time I heard from you was September . . ."

"Just college . . . nothing big has really happened . . . Goku and I work at Pizza Hut and we come home and do our homework. I have to tutor him A LOT though. He isn't very good at math. He was placed in about four remedial classes." I explained.

"Are you sure nothing else is going on?" Kari asked, giggling.

I groaned. "PLEASE tell me that Nora didn't tell you about what happened when he and Sapphie got home."

"He did . . . and I'm sure he told Miku about it on the way home from getting the Christmas tree." She smirked. "So you and Goku just SLEEP together? Yeah right!"

"We do! It's just . . . last night . . . and well . . . sometimes . . . we almost get carried away and make love. But we've never once done it . . ."

"Then what was last night?" Sapphie asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

" . . . We were about to have sex. There, I admitted it!" I nearly shouted at the top of my lungs.

Kari and Sapphie busted out laughing and Sapphie hugged me. Then we talked about nonsense until we fell asleep.

On Friday, everyone had their gifts ready. I made Goku some tightly knit gloves and bought him a pair of boots as well as a gold ring that had "love" engraved across it. I bought Miku a Slipknot CD and headphones because he needed new ones. I got Kari a skull hoodie and Nora a bright colorful hoodie and for Sapphie I got a gigantic Charmander plush.

It was silent on Friday for me. I felt like I barely spoke. Usually we all spent time together listening to Christmas music or watching cheesy movies. That's what we were doing and yet it still felt silent.

Maybe it was just because I was silent.

The evening had set in and we all sat in the living room curled up having a Christmas movie marathon. At this point we were watching Ernest Saves Christmas and I was curled up in Goku's arms, snug and comfortable. No one was really watching the movie. They were all talking. I myself was dozing off. Goku was better at holding a conversation with people than I was.

I still felt the fog of silence since I didn't say anything and I began to go into a daze. My vision got a little dizzy and I shivered, feeling a bit ill. I couldn't even hear anyone's conversation anymore and eventually I was asleep, having the sweetest most real dream I'd ever had in my life.

It began with it being Christmas time. I was sitting under a Christmas tree and a little boy around the age of three ran up to me. His features stood out to me. He had a bit of an elfish nose like mine and his hair went in all directions. His eyes were dark but he was adorable . . . and then I noticed he had a brown tail that moved freely. I pulled him into my arms hugging him and kissing his face then I woke up after he shouted "Mommy!"

"Alice . . ." Goku whispered, putting his warm arms around me.

I woke up completely as he nuzzled his fuzzy cheek against mine and his lips found mine and kissed them.

"Merry Christmas . . ." he whispered, kissing my ear.

"Merry Christmas . . ." I whispered, looking around, noticing Kari and Sapphie weren't in the bed with me, then noticed that Goku was in his pajamas and under the covers with me.

He smiled and ran his fingers through my hair. "Do you want your first Christmas present right now?"

"Sure . . ." I said, smiling nuzzling his chest.

Goku began to search his pockets then his eyes widened and he got up and searched almost all around the room and I eyed him weirdly.

"Sweetie . . . its okay it can wait." I said then my eyes caught the clock. It was ten thirty in the morning already. "Everyone must be waiting downstairs for us . . . let's go!"

Goku sighed then looked back up at me smiling. "You go ahead, I'll be out in a minute."

"Alright then . . . but hurry up, I want you to open your present!" I exclaimed at him then went down the stairs into the living room.

Goku stood there in bewilderment as he searched the bed for the gift he was going to give Alice. He finally found it in the middle of the bed then pulled it out. It was a small black box with a bow on top. He smiled, opening it up, gazing down at the small sapphire engagement ring inside.

"_Maybe it's a sign it isn't time for me to propose to her yet . . ._" Goku thought.

He then hid the box in his nightstand and went downstairs to join his friends.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Time Keeps On Slipping into the Future.

Before I knew it, new years had come and gone and so did January in its entirety. Things went back to the way they were before Christmas. Sapphie and Nora had to head back to Lantern University and on the last day of January, Miku and Kari were shipped overseas to Iraq with several other troops since they had spent so much time training. It would be several months before any of us would see them again . . .

When Nora returned to college, they held try outs for their spring musical. This year's production was apparently _Grease. _Shockingly, Nora got the part of Danny Zuko, the male lead! I was astounded, mostly because Nora was a blonde and I thought he was horrible at singing. Unfortunately, since this new development occurred, he and Sapphie couldn't come home on the weekends. The only way we could communicate was through phone call or video chat when one of them borrowed a roommate's laptop. Goku and I had laptops for school after we applied for grants and financial aid because we couldn't exactly make a down payment on college . . . we still had to pay the electric bill and the water bill.

Since Nora or Sapphie couldn't be home on the weekends or any time for that matter, this gave Goku and I more chances to be intimately alone . . . however the time never came. It didn't feel right ever since that night we were interrupted by Sapphie and Nora.

It was the day before Valentine's Day when we were about to . . . be "intimate" again. We were lying there naked, staring into the depths of each other's souls, being only visible by the glow of the pale moon across our forms. We were close to each other, touching, his large hands curved against my sides and his other hand on my face as he awaited my response.

Once again I denied him and he kissed me anyway. His plump juicy lips encasing my small thin ones as the corners of his mouth tugged into a smile and his lips moved to kiss my face and my neck. I blushed deeply in his touch then suddenly he pulled me close and pulled the covers over us, stroking my hair.

"Goku . . . I'm sorry." I whispered.

"For what?" he whispered before yawning loudly.

"I'm sorry for being a tease. I just . . . I think I want to go through with this and . . . well I do it's just . . . I want the time to be right and-"

He cut me off with a deep kiss that lasted until we needed air. When he broke the kiss he smiled at me chuckling lowly and pulling my head to his chiseled chest.

"It's okay. It's not that big of a deal . . . I love you regardless."

I smiled the biggest smile in the world and shed tears of joy, hugging him tightly, feeling so happy I thought I would burst like a firework . . . then we went to sleep.

The next day, I was surprised by a burnt fish breakfast and a note. It was obvious Goku made it considering the only thing he knew how to actually cook was fish or wild beasts. It was a grilled fish with a couple of pieces of toast and it was on my nightstand on my side of the bed.

I grabbed the note card before I did anything and read it. It had obviously been printed because Goku couldn't write very neatly. It read:

_Alice, hope you like the breakfast I made for you even though I'm not half as good of a cook as you. I saved some money up and went out to get you something for Valentine's Day. I'll be home at eleven. I love you! Love, Goku._

Just like last year I began to blush uncontrollably and my heart soared within my chest. By the time I had finished eating my breakfast and went downstairs to wash my plate, Goku was coming through the front door in his thick brown coat, holding a big gorilla that was holding a heart saying "I Love you" and a balloon and a little box of chocolates. I hugged him as tightly as possible and he sat the things down, hugging me too.

I flicked him in the nose then kissed him. "Honestly, you shouldn't have." I said blushing.

He laughed a little, scratching the back of his head. "I just . . . I take tips from those movies you watch."

I giggled. "Really?"

He nodded then kissed me again handing me my presents. I went and put them away then came back with a big heart-shaped storage box filled with his favorite sushi and a box of chocolates which he immediately began to devour both. When he finally finished I spoke again.

"I want to do something special for dinner this evening . . . but I don't want to go out. Okay?"

He grinned. "Sure!"

Later on, I dug through the fridge and the cabinets and ended up making a steak dinner. Goku had fallen asleep on the couch with his laptop on his chest, having been doing his homework. Before I began cooking, I went to him, setting the laptop aside and covering him up with a blanket. He remained asleep, not budging once. Only his mouth widened and shut and his chest moved up and down with his breath.

By the time dinner was ready, it was nine o'clock because I had made a huge dinner of steak, rice, spaghetti, fruit salad, salad and cake for dessert. Goku had awakened and sat in the dining room waiting for me, sitting at the table with the romantic scene I had sat up for us. A red tablecloth draped across the table and candles were in between our seats. He sat rather patiently in there and I barely heard a word out of him. I thought he may have fallen asleep again because of the music I had playing in the background.

When I served dinner, Goku began eating like a vacuum cleaner and I awkwardly slowly ate mine. Since I had made such a big meal, I could hardly finish it and ended up giving most of it to Goku. When dinner was over, Goku picked me up and carried me upstairs, even with a full stomach and we lay in bed together, silently, kissing a few times. Finally I cleared my throat.

"Goku . . . would you like to . . . finally . . . do it?" I whispered really quietly.

I waited and waited . . . then finally I noticed. He was asleep.

Another month passed and then I decided on March 18th, that night would be the night we made love.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Time is Right

A month later, it was mid-march and Goku and I were home alone one weekend. I checked to see if Nora and Sapphie could drop in, and they couldn't because Nora was rehearsing all weekend. I hadn't heard from Kari or Miku so I assumed they weren't dropping in . . . and since Goku had to work an extra shift since he took a day off to get caught up on his homework, I was going to set up a surprise for him.

I went shopping and bought rose petals, sweet smelling incense and some lingerie as well as well as the supplies to make a spaghetti dinner. I also bought winter roses. Tonight would be more romantic than Valentine's Day. If I was going to have my first time tonight . . . I wanted it to be memorable and I wanted it to be done right. I wanted Goku to have his socks knocked off by how sexy I looked this evening.

When I got home, I began preparing. I set up candles, I dressed in a sexy red dress that showed off my cleavage and curled my hair. I thought I kind of looked like Marilyn Monroe, with the way my hair was done and the red lipstick . . . but I didn't like that idea so I washed my hair again and re-did my hair, making the curls much looser. Lastly, I made dinner and turned the lights out, lighting the house up with candles. When it was about time for Goku, I sat our dinner on the table already in their dishes and I put on some slow smooth jazz to set the mood. When I heard the door being opened, I sat down, smiling and folded my hands in my lap.

"Alice! I'm . . . home?" Goku's voice went from normal to confused in seconds. I giggled silently and scooted my chair out and walked the path of rose petals I had made and gently bumped into Goku.

"Oh! Alice, it's you . . ." He smiled brightly then looked at me and did a double take and he struggled for more words, still looking me over. I smiled, raising my eyebrows and grabbed his collar, pulling him down to my level and kissed him, staining his lips with red lipstick in a long passionate kiss.

I grabbed his hands, dragging him into the dining room and then watched his facial expressions as he did a double take between the setting I had made and me, over and over until finally he said. "You did ALL of this, in six hours?"

"Mmhmm . . ." I smiled, squeezing his hand, gazing up at him then I heard a low rumbling sound, knowing it was his stomach. "C'mon . . . let's go eat dinner. I know you're hungry."

He put on his grin and stripped his coat off, tossing it to the side with a light thud and sat down at the huge plate of spaghetti I had made for him, and began eating like he always does and I ate a little faster, but none compared to Goku when he is eating. His fork hit the plate and he chugged his water, already finished and when I finished he smiled at me, wiped his mouth and kissed me, taking my plate.

"Since you did all of this . . . I'm going to clean up. You go on to bed . . . I'll be up in a bit." He said softly.

My heart sank a little. Maybe he was too tired to want to do anything . . . but I went through all of this I figured he at least would have wanted to dance or something. I sighed but smiled and hugged him tightly. "Alright . . . I'll blow out the candles and we'll put them away tomorrow because I know you must be tired."

"Alright then . . ." He kissed me once more and then went into the kitchen, turning on the light. I went around the house and blew out the candles I had lit then made my way upstairs to the bathroom and stripped down into the lingerie I had bought, and brushed my teeth. Before I made my way out of the bathroom, I poked my head out, looking around; making sure that Goku wasn't around to see me prematurely. I quickly went into our bedroom and lied down on the bed in a lounge position, feeling a little awkward because I was alone at this point.

About ten minutes later he walked in, in his pajama pants and was a little startled at first at seeing me. I blushed and sat up on my knees gazing at him and he walked toward me and kissed me. When he stopped I bit my lip and grabbed his arms, rubbing them gently, slowly tracing down his side and tugging at his pants, and boxers. He looked at me, partially shocked and I kissed him again.

"I'm _ready _for this." I whispered.

Goku looked over Alice, one more time, starting to pull off her black, lacy lingerie but stopped and asked for her permission one more time, asking if she was sure one more time.

"Goku . . . I'm sure . . . that's why I sat all of this up." Alice whispered, biting her lip again.

He quickly pulled the lingerie off of her and slowly pulled his clothes off, climbing onto the bed with Alice, beside her, beginning to kiss her as his hand began to wander. His large hand began to caress her body, gently, causing her body to tingle and quiver in response. His hand groped one of her breasts gently and traced her ribcage . . . her belly, her abdomen and finally it reached her hips. His whole hand cupped her hip and he kept it there momentarily, rubbing her hip and her thigh. He smiled then gently touched her womanhood, causing her to gasp at first, then giggle lightly and give him further access, but still trembled in his touch.

He kissed her then gently pushed his longest fingers inside her, beginning slowly, massaging and rubbing her most sensitive region. She squirmed in response and bit his lip gently as he began to massage her clitoris causing her to let out a soft moan and to leak juices of her pleasure on his hand.

He quickly quickened these movements, pumping his long fingers in and out of her, hard. She digs her fingers into the sheets, moaning uncontrollably and he kisses her harder to muffle some of her moaning. He kept moving his fingers in and out of her until her hips started bucking in response and she climaxed, moaning with a powerful orgasm.

He got up and put a condom on. Alice lie there before him with her legs spread, ready for penetration and he paused for a moment to drink in the sight of her, then crawled between her legs, on his knees, his hands holding her thighs.

"I'm going to ask you one last time . . . are you sure, Alice?" he whispered, squeezing her thigh gently.

She bit her lip then nodded. "Yes . . . I'm ready for this Goku . . ." she whispered.

Without anymore words he squeezed both of her thighs again and thrust his hard manhood into her roughly causing her to moan as her walls were tight and squeezed his manhood. She moaned and called out his name as her breasts bounced amusingly, responding to his hard thrusts.

He groaned as his thrusts got harder and harder. Heat burned between the two of them and they both began to build on a climax. He kissed her lips and then they both moaned, climaxing together in a sea of lust.

He rolled over next to her and held her close to him with wide eyes after what just had happened. She smiled and hugged him tight, kissing his sweaty forehead gently. He smiled nervously and stroked her hair.

"Goku . . . I love you . . . and that was wonderful . . ." her tone changed as she noticed the shocked, nervous expression on his face. "What's wrong?"

"The . . . the condom . . . broke." Goku said in a dry, shaky voice.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: An Unexpected Development.

My heart stopped racing as my eyes widened and widened even more as he stared at me with shocked eyes and I began biting my nails. My breath started coming out in short quick pants and I began hyperventilating, panicking, freaking out. I sat up quickly and stood up pacing the floor, still naked and sat on my knees tugging at my hair lightly, my ears burning in disbelief.

Goku got up and came over to me putting his hands on my shoulders. "Alice you're going to pass out . . . please calm down!"

I shook where I stood, tears forming in my eyes, about to scream as there were so many thoughts racing through my mind. What was going to happen? What if I got pregnant? We couldn't afford a child! We were poor college kids!

He hugged me tight and kissed me as tears streamed down my cheek. "Honey it'll be okay . . . I promise!"

"How is this going to be okay if I get pregnant?!" I yelled. "We can't afford a baby! We can barely afford college!" I screamed louder and started crying harder.

He didn't let go of me and he squeezed me gently. "I'll get another job if that's the case . . ." he said seriously.

"Goku you can't! I can't, we have our classes to worry about!"

"I'll . . . drop out."

I growled and punched him as hard as I could making my hand ache. "How is that going to solve anything?!"

His brows furrowed as we were about to argue. "I'm not that good in school anyway and with all the remedial classes I'm taking I don't have a chance Alice! You do! You'll stay in college and bring in what money that you can if it turns out you're pregnant and . . . and . . . I'll support us . . . no matter what."

I cried against his bare chest and he waited for me to calm down, holding me to him as tight as he could without cutting off my air supply.

"I . . . don't want you . . . to have to give up on your dream!" I managed to cry out and he stroked my head.

"Alice . . . it'll be alright, okay? I'll never stop training and one day I could still have my own dojo. I never stood a chance in college anyway. If you're pregnant, I'll drop out, I'll get another job, and even another one if I have to!" He grabbed my hand, squeezing it and smiled at me. "I will own up and take care of us the best that I can . . . so please just . . . stop crying. You'll make yourself sick . . ."

He wiped the tears under my eyes with one hand and then kissed my cheek, picking me up and taking me into the bathroom, and we took a shower together, washing each other and kissing because I felt slightly better . . . but I still couldn't help but worry.

Two weeks later, I began feeling very sick. What made it even worse was that Sapphie and Nora were home because they finally gave Nora a weekend off. I woke up very early that morning feeling nauseous like I had for the past several mornings and locked myself in the bathroom, getting sick.

Goku followed me soon afterwards, knocking on the bathroom door. "Ally . . . you okay?" he asked before letting out a huge yawn. "Are you getting sick again? . . ."

"Yes Goku . . . I'm getting sick again." I said before puking in the toilet again, and the nausea began to leave. I got up off the floor, flushed the toilet then rinsed the disgusting taste out of my mouth.

"I still say you oughta go get checked out . . . or something . . . gosh Alice . . . I hate seeing you suffer like this." Goku said as I heard him move away from the door.

"It's normal if you're pregnant . . ." I sighed.

"Yeah . . . which is another reason to go get checked out!" Goku snapped at me.

We had been arguing over the past week because I had been in textbook denial that there was nothing wrong. Over the past few days . . . I had come to terms with it mentally but didn't tell Goku. I sighed loud enough for him to hear me and came out of the bathroom, going into the kitchen and getting out a bottle of water.

Goku came up behind me hugging me tight. "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings . . . I just want to know if you're alright . . . you've been throwing up a lot and you even took a day off last week because you were so tired."

I sighed. "Look, I have to go grocery shopping today . . . Sapphie said she'd come with me . . . you and Nora go get some takeout or something and we'll meet you back here around three . . . I'll . . . buy a pregnancy test while I'm out." I said letting out a deep breath. That was probably the most awkward thing I've ever had to say to Goku.

His expression remained serious. "If it's positive . . . will you please go to the doctor?"

"Goku . . . if it's positive I'm going to have to go to the doctor anyway . . . there are things they have to do . . . to make sure the baby will be okay." I said.

Just as Goku was about to say something else, Nora came in singing.

"Why do you build me up?! Buttercup baby! Just to let me down? And mess me around! And then worst of all! You never call baby when you say you will! But I love you still!" He danced across the kitchen floor to the fridge, looking in it then frowning, his ears sinking with his expression.

"Alice . . . there's no food!" he groaned.

"I know! I already went over this yesterday! I have to go grocery shopping! God! Don't you listen?!" I snapped at him.

Goku looked at me, surprised at my sharp harsh tone and Nora looked scared.

"Damn Alice . . . PMS much?" Nora laughed nervously.

_ "No . . . that's the problem."_ I thought. "No Nora . . . it's complicated . . . just . . . I'll get food later . . . Sapphie and I are going to get groceries." I folded my arms and Goku gave me a kiss.

"What kind of take out did you want me to pick up?" He asked as I was walking out of the room.

"Chinese I suppose . . . that's what sounds good to me . . ." I said simply.

"Mmm, yeah that does sound good." Sapphie said rubbing her eyes, standing just at the end of the stairs.

A few hours later, Sapphie and I got home and put the groceries away except for one bag which contained my pregnancy test.

"Alice . . . are you okay? You've been acting really weird." Sapphie said, expressing her concern.

"I-I'm fine, Sapphs." I lied. "I just feel really stressed lately with my math class . . ."

"You sweat these things entirely too much . . . you need to learn to relax." She responded.

"I know . . . I know . . ." I said making my way into the downstairs bathroom with the bag, shutting the door before she could question me anymore.

"Well . . . um . . . I'm gonna go upstairs and chill . . . let me know when Goku and Nora get back." Sapphie requested then headed upstairs.

"Will do!" I called out, taking the test out of the bag and opening it up.

I read the directions quickly then followed them waiting the minute for the results. This was the LONGEST minute I had ever waited for anything in my life. I paced the floor, sat down against the wall, pulled at my hair then finally picked the white stick up and looked at my fate.

Two pink lines. I was pregnant.

I dropped the stick feeling so much emotion at once that I could puke. I was mostly scared about what was going to happen to us. How would we pay for this child? How would this affect my relationship with Goku? How could I continue to work like I do if there is life growing inside me?

That's what this was. This was LIFE. Pure, raw, innocent life growing within me. A child, MY child.

A knock on the door startled me and caused me to jump slightly.

"Alice are you in there?" Goku asked. "We got the takeout you wanted . . . hungry?"

Goku; the father of the life within me. My ears started burning and my face heated up with all of the things going through my mind.

When I didn't answer he knocked again and jiggled the locked doorknob. "Alice are you okay in there? Is everything alright?"

"Y-Yeah . . . I'm fine Goku." I responded shakily.

"Are you decent? Can I come in?" He asked.

I kept shaking and stood up slowly walking towards the door and unlocked it letting him in, his eyes immediately darting to the white stick on the floor.

He looked me in the eyes taking my hands in his. "Are you? . . ." he whispered.

I looked down, nodding and he hugged me tight, shaking with me, probably in as much fear as I was. I began crying and he wiped my tears kissing me.

"Shh . . . it's okay . . . everything will work out . . . come hell or high water. I promise I'll make this work . . ." He whispered.

The softened voice of Nora came from behind Goku. "Hey . . . what's wrong?"

I started calming down and Goku kept me close to him and didn't answer Nora's question.

It was silent except for a few of my sniffles then Nora asked again, what was wrong.

"I'm pregnant . . ." I choked out.

Nora's jaw dropped as he stared at me and Goku in shock. "You two . . . are gonna . . . have a . . . a . . . BABY?!"

We both nodded and Nora hit the floor.

After breaking the news to both Sapphie and Nora, things were a bit . . . silent for the rest of the night but they both congratulated me . . . well us. Goku and I were going to be parents.

That night, when we went to bed, Goku acted like nothing had happened and pulled me close to him, putting a hand on my belly, rubbing it gently. I turned to face him and he still rubbed my still-flat belly.

He had a smile on his face and he kissed me deeply . . . causing me to smile widely but then frown and sigh.

"Goku . . . aren't you worried? At all?" I asked him, taking his hands.

"No . . . not really . . . I'm worried that you're too worried but that's it." He smiled and kissed me.

"Goku we're too young to be parents . . ." I said gravely.

"No we're not . . . we've never been too young for anything." He retaliated.

I sighed even deeper and he kissed me. "Like I said Alice . . . we'll be okay. I'll help make this work . . . just please stay with me. I love you." He whispered.

I blushed and hugged him tight. "I love you too . . . and I wouldn't leave you ever . . ."

He got up suddenly and went to his nightstand, searching the drawer until he pulled out a tiny black box. I gasped and blushed then he lied down with me.

"I was going to ask you at Christmas . . . but lost it and figured it was a sign that I shouldn't ask you yet . . . but I think now is the best time. Alice . . . will you marry me?" he asked.

I shed tears of joy and kissed him hugging him tightly. "Yes Goku! Of course I will!"

He slid the ring on my left ring finger and it sparkled in the moonlight. A midnight blue sapphire ring with tiny diamonds.

We kissed until we were breathless then fell asleep in each other's arms.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The First Month

The next day, the first thing I did was set up a doctor's appointment for Monday so I could start taking prenatal vitamins as soon as possible. My head still felt like it was running up and downstairs going through so many thoughts and processes that I was stressed.

I was happy because I always wanted children . . . but I was only 18, nearly 19 and Goku was 20. In one had I felt like we were far too young, in the other I was taking in what he had said to me. I also felt conflicted between unconditional love for the tiny life inside me . . . and extreme frustration for the time it had come about. It wasn't the child's fault regardless and I planned to do everything I could to raise this child the right way.

We announced our engagement to Sapphie and Nora over breakfast who weren't surprised but happy for us. Afterwards we got on the phone with Miku and Kari . . . who wouldn't be able to make it to my wedding because they were overseas. I decided to have my wedding in two weeks the end of my first month of pregnancy.

"WHAT? ALREADY?! I thought you weren't getting married to ANYONE until you got your degree?" Kari shouted as I told her the news.

"Well . . . um . . . we're gonna have a baby. I'm pregnant." I said awkwardly.

"OH SNAP!" Kari shouted.

Miku busted out laughing harder than I'd ever heard him laugh before. "How did I know?! Geez Alice that was quick!"

"Congratulations!" Kari shouted over the phone before they both had to get off and go back to work.

We began planning a small wedding two days after this using the remnants of Goku's saved up college money. We booked a church as the setting and asked a preacher to marry us on the set date. We couldn't afford attire or a cake though so I had to make my own. Goku bought his own tuxedo. The day before the wedding was spent making cake and Goku's favorite curry.

Thinking about marrying him . . . made me blush so much I thought I would melt. I really did love him . . . I'm glad he wanted to get married and didn't feel obliged to. It was something I had dreamed of since the day I developed a crush on him . . . which was practically the day we met.

I was ten years old, having been living alone with Miku for quite some time. It was dusk on a hot summer day and the burning intense heat had now just started to end. We had come home from a long day of working in tobacco, setting plants in the hot soil along with a few teenagers. They paid us each thirty dollars a day for helping them with exhausting labor such as this and twenty dollars each if we did other chores that were easier. We needed food.

My stomach grumbled hard, I had gone several days without food before but going twelve hours without food and only a few drinks of water in the hot son was extremely painful. Miku had gone the previous day to get any kind of food that he could and ended up killing a wild turkey that we roasted and even ate the innards of. Since he had gone the day before . . . it was my turn.

I fashioned myself a fishing pole with a long thick branch, a long piece of twine and a rusty hook I had found in a rusted tool box in the half caved in cellar behind the house. I walked through the woods bewaring of wolves and other potentially dangerous creatures until I came to the big rushing stream, casting the pole with the worm in it in.

After two hours of fishing, I had caught two tiny fish . . . barely enough to feed Miku alone. I sighed, grabbing another worm from my lap, sliding it on the nasty looking hook and casting it back into the water.

"You're doing that the hard way, you know." A voice said from behind me.

I turned around quickly, shocked and afraid. I was stunned at the sight before me. A 11-year old boy stood there in an orange outfit and black shoes. His cheeks were a little round and his hair went in all directions . . . he was the first boy I had ever seen and been attracted to . . . and he had a tail!

"Oh yeah?" I replied grumpily. "Then what's the easy way?"

He smiled at me cheekily and slipped his shoes and clothes off without hesitation.

"Ahh! What are you doing?!" I yelled, covering my eyes. Instead of an answer I heard an excited yell from him and a loud splash. I uncovered my eyes and looked to see where the boy had gone. He was swimming upstream quickly, his tail popped up out of the water looking almost like a rudder. Suddenly he dived under and there was splashing that I couldn't see that abruptly stopped. A few moments later I heard a dragging sound and laughing heartily and I turned around and saw him standing there holding a huge fish over his head that was bigger than the two of us put together.

"Whoa! That's the biggest fish I've ever seen!" I exclaimed, clasping my hands together in surprise and giddiness that such fish were in these waters.

His eyes widened as he saw something in front of me. "Hey! You've got something biting on your line!"

I turned back around to see my pole getting pulled at fast; I picked it up and began pulling with all of my might. He came next to me and started getting re-dressed as I kept pulling and pulling and then . . .

SNAP! SPLASH!

The pole snapped in half and I fell backward, slipping on the wet bank and hitting my head, landing in the water with splash. Through the haze and the water I saw the boy's face panic and he jumped in as the stream began taking me away, pulling me out and rushing me to the dry ground. I coughed, sputtering water and my vision faltered and finally cleared.

"Are you okay?" he asked as I began shaking immensely from the chilling water.

"No . . . I'm not . . . I'm starving . . . and I got a headache . . . and now . . . I'm gonna be sick and we have no hook!" I whimpered.

"Well you're not gonna starve! I caught that huge fish remember?!"

"Yeah but that's your fish . . . not mine . . . I can't take that from you, your family will need it . . ." I sighed.

"I don't have a family. I live alone ever since my grandpa died a few years ago." He said, still not losing his smile. "You take it home to your family!"

"I . . . I don't have a family either . . . I just live with my older brother . . . I feel bad about taking a fish from you." I explained.

"Well then I'll take you home and we'll share!" he exclaimed.

I giggled, blushing slightly. "Are you sure?"

He picked me up with surprising strength and sat me on my feet. "Sure! I'd hate to see you go hungry after all . . . wait . . . what's your name?" he asked.

"My name is Alice. What's yours?" I asked.

"My name is Goku. I'm glad to have met you Alice!" he exclaimed.

With that we walked to my house and had plenty to eat that night and it was the beginning of a long friendship.

I smiled and kept working on the single layer cake in front of me, decorating it with pale blue and dark red pink frosting flowers then decorating it with a large heart and writing "Congratulations Mr. Goku Son and Mrs. Alice Son."

Tomorrow my last name would be changed to Son . . . and I couldn't be happier about it.

The next day, was the big day. April 28th. My wedding day. I woke up early that morning and heated the curry and the rice because the ceremony would be taking place at ten A.M followed by a short reception.

When the clock struck eight, I got in the shower and got ready after dealing with light morning sickness, doing my hair up in a loose hair-do and putting on eyeliner and mascara then putting my wedding dress on. By the time I finish, it's already nine thirty and time to go. Sapphie knocks on the bathroom door, yelling.

"Alice! It's time to go! Are you ready yet?!" She shouted.

I stepped out and she gasped looking me over. "Sissy you look beautiful . . . very angelic." I smiled and hugged her, thanking her, trying not to cry, already becoming emotional.

Without anymore fooling around, we headed to the church.

Goku and Nora were already at the church, sitting in the front pews, waiting. Goku wore a white tuxedo and a spring carnation that was red, his hair in the same form it always was. He had just shaven his stubble that morning and put on cologne . . . growing slightly nervous.

Nora sat next to him, his blonde hair combed back and wearing a brown suit. He and Goku had been talking for the past fifteen minutes when they both arrived there at the same time.

"Nervous, pal?" Nora asked, grinning.

"Eh . . . a little . . . then again I'm nervous about the whole situation. We're gonna be parents . . . the only thing I'm really a little scared for is fatherhood. If it weren't for Alice I wouldn't have passed the whole baby project . . . this baby is going to be real." Goku said sighing. "But no matter what . . . I promised Alice that I could take care of the three of us and do all I can. Even if it means working twenty jobs!"

Nora pretended to wipe a tear. "Man that's beautiful! I'm jealous!"

Goku laughed and playfully punched him in the arm. "You should be."

Fifteen minutes later the preacher arrived and positioned himself at the altar, holding his book and wearing long robes, smiling at Goku and Nora. He was a worn old gentleman who looked like he had seen everything life throws at people and he patted Goku on the shoulder, congratulating him.

That's when music began playing and Sapphie came down the aisle, taking her place on the side Alice would take. Everyone then turned to look at the aisle as Pachelbel's Canon in D Major began to play as Alice took her first step down the long aisle.

Goku couldn't help but stare. He stared without blinking at the sight before him. Alice dressed from head to toe in white looking the most beautiful now than she had in her entire life. He glanced over her head to toe noticing every single detail about how she looked. Her black hair up in a loose curled do, wearing a pale creamy white dress that was still slightly darker than her skin and she wore pale pink lipstick and held a bouquet of spring tulips and daffodils in her hands. He smiled looking upon her as she slowly mad her way to the altar.

Alice shook lightly, wishing she had someone to clutch onto, someone who could have given her away at the altar. She kept a smile on her face as Goku was her stronghold at the end of the aisle. He kept his eyes locked with hers and that helped her make her way to the end, when she reached the end, she kept her eyes locked with his and the preacher smiled at them both.

"We're gathered here today to bring Alice Marie Robles and Goku Son together in holy matrimony. If there is anyone who thinks that these two should not be married, speak now . . . or forever hold your peace." The preacher began.

There was a pause of silence between the five of them and the preacher went on smiling at both of them.

"Please, join hands." He requested, and so Alice handed her bouquet to Sapphie and joined hands with Goku looking up at him, blushing. Nora handed the preacher their rings and gave Goku's to Alice, instructing her to slide it on his ring finger on his left hand and repeat after him. Goku did the same for her and they kept holding hands, tightly not breaking the gaze between each other's eyes.

"Do you Alice take Goku to have and to hold, to honor and cherish, in sickness and in health, for better or worse, as long as you both shall live?" he asked her.

"I do." Alice said smiling, confidently and continued staring up at Goku like he was the only person in the world that mattered.

"And do you Goku take Alice to have and to hold, to honor and cherish, in sickness and in health, for better or worse, as long as you both shall live?" he asked Goku.

Goku grinned. "I do!"

The priest smiled and shut his book. "I now pronounce you man and wife! You may kiss the bride."

Goku picked Alice up kissing her and Sapphie and Nora clapped in celebration then they went home to have a reception.

That night, after all of the slight partying we had done to celebrate, Goku and I were alone now. Sapphie and Nora headed back to their dorms at Lantern University to leave us alone. Goku and I lie there in bed in our pajamas kissing and he put his hand on my stomach, feeling the small baby bump that had formed, smiling.

"I love you, Alice." He whispered softly, kissing my ear.

I smiled. "I love you, Goku . . . and I'm honored to be married to you."

He hugged me tightly to him and didn't let go, even when we both fell asleep. I was sure this marriage would last forever. Through thick and thin, no matter what . . . I knew at that moment . . . he would never leave me stranded or alone ever again.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: The Second Month.

Two days passed and we were plunged into May. By the end of the first week, Goku had already found another job and so had I. Goku got a job at a factory just outside of the city, it was about an hour away from our house but the pay was . . . okay. What kind of factory? A steel factory . . . or a steel mill. Goku would be handling extremely hot steel all day and lifting a lot of weight . . . from the reputation of this factory . . . they didn't have very good working conditions. When he told me about getting hired there, I started worrying.

He would work the night shift at Pizza hut four days a week and then worked at the Steel factory for 8 hours nearly every day . . . it came to the point that they would tell him he had a day off, then call him in anyway and dock his pay for that day because he was late.

After his first week of this new schedule he came home completely and utterly exhausted with me on Friday night. We walked through the front door of the house and he fell on the couch forcing his thick steel-toed boots off, took his socks off . . . and his feet were swollen from being on his feet all day. It was a little funny though because my ankles were swollen from working my shift at pizza hut so it was like we were going through the same thing. Being a good wife, I put his huge feet in my lap and began rubbing them gently.

He groaned slightly, smiling after a little bit of massaging. "Alice . . . god that feels amazing . . . you don't know. Thank you . . ."

I kept massaging his feet, glad when the swelling started going down and the tension out of his feet was gone. I leaned my head as I kept massaging until his feet were completely soft and he was sleeping like a baby. I smiled and kissed his hairy cheek, noticing his stubble had grown a lot almost forming a beard. I heard his stomach grumble loudly, knowing he hadn't eaten since the short lunch break they give him and mine grumbled as well.

I walked into the kitchen and started cooking dinner and ended up making a fish Mac and cheese casserole with cornbread. It sounded really good and by the time it was done and hot and fresh . . . it was incredibly delicious. I woke Goku up and he came to eat it and enjoyed it as well. After I finished eating, I threw my bowl in the sink, put away any leftovers and went upstairs to bed. Goku followed me not too long after that.

My work schedule wasn't so easy either. I now worked in a gas station/convenience store part time and between the night shift at Pizza Hut and the job at the gas station handling everything . . . I was almost just as exhausted as Goku was . . . not to mention the people I worked with were horrible.

It was my third day on the job after having training and I was doing alright, working the register, stocking shelves of snacks and drinks and also working their coffee stations and lunch stations . . . but then the assistant manager came back from vacation.

His name was Rick . . . he had a mustache wore his hat backwards all the time and had red hair and within the five minutes of him walking through the door I could tell what kind of person he was. He was the type of person who walked in ANYWHERE just to act like he owned the place.

He looked over me after Kate (the person who trained me), pointed me out. At the time, I was working the register and waiting for any customers to come up to pay for snacks or gas and he came up to me frowning.

"What are you doin' just standing around all day?" He said, angrily.

"Um . . . it's my job . . . to work the register?" I replied, quirking an eyebrow in confusion.

"Wow . . . you're obviously stupider than you look. Your job is the entire store, along with everyone else. When there aren't customers you should be doing other things." He said, getting angrier.

"And leave the register unattended?" I asked still quirking an eyebrow.

"Phew . . . quite a talker aren't we? Well guess what? You've just earned your first demerit." He said, pulling out a clip board, looking at my name tag. "Ah . . . Son . . . there you are." He made a mark on the clipboard and smirked at me.

"What?! I didn't do anything . . . that's completely unfair." I argued, folding my arms.

He smirked, steadying the pen over the clipboard. "Life's unfair. Since you keep arguing instead of cleaning the restroom, how about I give you another one? Two more after that and you could be laid off."

I sighed. "Fine. Where are the bucket and the mop?"

"You don't get to use the mop . . . for talking back you can use the scrub brush." He said still smirking, obviously a crazy person who enjoyed having power over others. He went in the back room coming back out with a scrub brush and a bucket as well as a bottle of cleaner, handing them to me gingerly. I took them and walked into the women's restroom cleaning up the place, getting on my hands and knees to scrub the disgusting floor.

He also had me stop whatever I was doing to clean up any messes that were made . . . and unfortunately I had to submit because if I didn't, I would have been fired.

Today was even more awful because he made me start carrying in huge crates of soda by myself, claiming the dolly was broken. I couldn't use magic in public so again . . . I had to submit . . . but all the while I worried about my baby. I wasn't very far along but regardless . . . you shouldn't lift heavy objects when you're pregnant.

Goku wrapped his arms around me when he climbed into bed and rubbed my baby bump gently, smiling. We were facing each other and he gave me a small kiss on the cheek.

"Are you okay, Alice?" Goku said as his face was growing concerned. "You look a little . . . pale . . . like you're sick."

"I'm okay . . . I promise." I smiled as I shivered slightly and he wrapped us both under the covers and felt my forehead.

"You got a little fever . . . are you sure you're okay?" he asked growing more concerned.

"I'm fine honey . . . really . . ." I whispered, kissing his forehead.

He smiled but still looked concerned and held me until I fell asleep.

Soon, May ended and we went into June . . . at the end of this month I would be going into my second trimester . . . if something bad didn't happen first because I kept going through the same amount of work . . .


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Dire Situations, Drastic Changes.

June ran through like a lightning bolt. As the month went on it got progressively hotter and I could barely stand it. It felt like it was ten times hotter. My belly grew considerably and I was showing. Nora swears I get bigger every time he sees me.

My doctor said the baby was growing normally but that I needed to take it easier because he was already an inch longer than a normal baby at this mark. By mid June I was technically in my second trimester if you went by weeks. I began to feel fluttering and some kind of flicking in my belly, all the time. I started getting worried about it so I asked my doctor when I had an appointment and he just smiled and told me it was the baby moving. This made my heart glow and made me smile every time I felt it after that. He or she had been moving since day one, I realize that . . . but I couldn't feel it like I could now! No matter what I was doing or how much of a headache I had or how much Rick the dick yelled at me . . .

Around the same time, Miku and Kari came home from being overseas, having been there for six months. Miku had a scar already from being scraped by a bullet and Kari had a long scrape down her back from being cut in a hand to hand fight with someone. They were only home until they were needed again, whether it be sooner or later.

Miku was the first to remark on me when he got home that evening.

"Alice! Your belly is blowing up like a balloon! It should be popped immediately!" Miku said, holding up a toothpick.

I was lying down on the couch, a pillow behind my head and my heavily swollen feet on a pillow. I groaned feeling overwhelmingly nauseous and just ill in general. "Don't even think about it . . ." I said, rubbing my belly gently, aching all over because I had just gotten off work.

"Geez Batty, lighten up and take a joke." Miku said rolling his eyes.

Kari sat at my feet and looked me over considerably. "You look sick . . . feeling okay?" she asked, concerned.

"I'm exhausted . . . working two jobs and going to college is a toxic combination. I'm exhausted when I come home but I have homework to do . . . plus the assistant manager at Shell gas . . . he's the worst. I call him Rick the dick, he makes me get on my hands and knees to clean the floors instead of giving me a mop like a dignified person . . . he makes me lift heavy boxes . . . and claims that the dolly is broken." I sighed heavily.

Miku frowned and flicked my ear. "You need to quit."

"Miku, I can't . . . we need the money. We've saved up for the hospital visit but we still need a crib, clothes, diapers, bottles . . . just . . . all kinds of stuff. The crib will probably cost us the most . . . and on top of all this stuff we need for the baby, we have bills to pay . . . I have to have internet for school." I argued.

"Does Goku know this guy is working you like a dog though?!" Miku shouted, getting angry. "Pregnant women aren't supposed to be worked like dogs . . . it can seriously cause some problems . . . you could kill your kid doing that stuff."

"No . . . Goku doesn't know . . . and I know it could hurt our baby . . . that's what I'm worried about . . . but the job market is rough, we need the money. I don't want to hurt our baby I feel terrible if I've been doing so . . . I'll see what I can do but don't tell Goku." I sighed and hug my head. "He's probably stressed enough as it is."

Two weeks later it was the last day of June and my belly had doubled in size. I felt sicker and weaker as the weeks went on. I was working the register one day, staring off into space smiling as the baby was really active. Rick came up looking angry, wiping away my smile.

"The delivery truck has been outside for fifteen minutes. Why the fuck haven't you or anyone else gone to get the things?" he grumbled at me.

I sighed, not arguing and walked out back to get the things being delivered. It was mostly crates of soda but they were still rather heavy. I bent over to pick one up and felt a pain in my lower back and caused me to groan and hold my back. I vomited a little on the ground then felt like I had wet myself or something . . .

I panicked, worrying I had thrown myself into premature labor or something . . . I went to the bathroom and checked myself out . . . and found blood.

Goku was sweating profusely as he worked among the thousand degree pieces of steel and lifting the huge slabs that weighed a ton and slid them one by one into a machine. His arms began to ache after the twentieth piece of steel, lifting so much weight over and over but he pushed through it and kept moving several pieces of steel into the other machine then starting the other machine once his machine stopped. That machine sent the slabs of steel down another conveyor belt that would move one slab forward, stop for a few seconds then move on. A worker used a huge piece of equipment to bend and warp the steel into the same shaped part. Once all of the slabs of steel had been shaped, a whistle blew signaling that it was time for lunch break.

Goku left the work floor and went to the rotted picnic tables that sat in one area outside of the factory after grabbing his lunch box and opening it up to find the homemade meal Alice had made for him today that filled up the tall box. It was a huge lunch.

Just as he was about to eat, his supervisor, Jonathan, the boss's son came out holding an old cell phone, yelling. "Mr. Son? GOKU SON!? SON GOKU?!" He yelled getting louder by the second.

Goku ran up to him. "Yes sir?"

Jonathan handed Goku the cell phone. "Phone call. They've been on hold for an hour or so . . ."

"Why didn't you tell me? It could be an emergency!" he frowned.

"Because you were working! Now answer the damn phone or I'll just take it and hang up! And it's coming out of your paycheck!"

Goku gritted his teeth then turned away from Jonathan answering the phone.

"Hello?"

"Goku! What the fuck man? Why didn't you answer the phone?!" Miku yelled. "You need to get your ass over here NOW."

"What happened?" Goku asked, growing worried.

"Something happened to Alice while she was working." Miku took in a deep breath, sighing. "She called all of us when she got to the hospital and she asked me to call you. There might be something wrong with the baby."

Goku felt as though his heart stopped and the world turned extremely slow now. He shook where he stood, nervously as Jonathan was trying to get his attention. He turned away from his boss regaining some of his composure.

"W-Which hospital?" Goku asked.

"The one in the middle of town . . . I suggest you get your ass over here as soon as possible. She's been back for awhile." Miku said.

Goku hung up the phone handing it to Jonathan. "I'm sorry, but I'm leaving. My wife is in the hospital and something may have happened to our baby. I gotta go, NOW. Bye."

He ran to the entrance of the factory. "NIMBUS!" he yelled as the puffy yellow cloud arrived and he jumped on it, flying to the hospital, soaring through the clear skies.

I lied there hooked up to all kinds of beeping machines as they ran several tests on me. I shook where I lie, crying my eyes out, fearing the worst. Fearing I would end up giving birth to a stillborn child, that my baby was dying, that I had sent him or her into an early labor that they couldn't survive.

Goku suddenly burst through the door as a nurse argued with him not to come in here. He sat next to my side on a small metal stool hugging me.

"Are you okay? Is the baby okay?" Goku asked, shaking.

I looked up at him still crying, unable to give him a comprehendible and he hugged me tightly as he shed a few tears himself.

Doctor Schwartz, my doctor who was following me through my pregnancy and would deliver the baby, walked in the room with a serious expression and I shook in Goku's arms, terrified of what he would say.

"Alright . . . let me tell you what's going on." He said, pulling up a rolling stool. He showed me a sonogram picture of my womb pointing to the top around the uterine wall. "You have a mild placental abruption . . . which is why you experienced the severe pain followed by slight vaginal bleeding. Now, you're lucky it wasn't severe otherwise the baby would be dead. Luckily it isn't too severe but that doesn't mean it can't become severe. I'm placing you under bed rest because I don't want you to take any chances. Four to five months of bed rest to prevent the placenta from completely detaching. I don't want you working or even lifting anything over five pounds. Other than this minor abruption, I haven't found anything else wrong, but do either of you have any questions?" He asked looking at the both of us.

Goku looked at him completely confused. "Umm . . . what's a placenta?"

The doctor laughed slightly and scratched the back of his head. "The placenta is what feeds the baby and gives it oxygen from the mother, which is why it's attached to the uterine wall in the womb. If it becomes completely detached, the baby dies because it can't get any oxygen . . . it's not supposed to come unattached until the baby is born. Your wife had a minor placental abruption meaning it barely became detached but it can still cause problems and if she isn't careful . . . it could become severe very quickly. The more she moves around, the worst it could get."

"Oh . . . okay . . . so . . . she has to stay in bed all the time?" Goku asked, squeezing my hand. "You aren't keeping her here are you?"

"We're not keeping her because she stopped bleeding which is a very good sign. Be glad that she did. She doesn't have to stay in bed all the time, she can move around the house a little, but she can't do a lot of house work . . . she needs to lay down most of the time. We'll release her as soon as I put these results on file and fill out the necessary papers . . . you have a good evening, I'll see you next Tuesday and make sure you're careful." The doctor said, dismissing himself and leaving.

Later that evening, Goku and I were lying in bed and he was holding me, rubbing my rounded stomach, half asleep. He kept kissing my neck over and over and my cheek.

"You scare me to death, Alice . . . please don't do it anymore . . . and take it easy . . . stop worrying so much . . . I'll make sure we're fed and the lights are left on . . . I promise . . ." he whispered.

I sighed and turned around; kissing him and then we both went to sleep. The next day began four months of bedrest.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Bed Rest Baby Shower

At the beginning of July, Sapphie and Nora came home from college for a bit of a summer break. Since I was fired . . . well . . . laid off from my job at the gas station and pretty much laid off from Pizza Hut and on bed rest, I spent most of my time lying down. I moved from my bed, to the couch, sometimes to the bathroom or bathtub and that's it.

When I told everyone what was going on they didn't want to leave me alone. They were in complete fear something was going to happen. Goku didn't even want to leave my side but he had work to do . . . he immediately came to my side whenever he got home however and sometimes we'd massage each other's feet when we were lying in bed together.

Since I didn't have anything to do all day and regained some energy from not having to work, I caught up on any homework I had.

Before I knew it, July was over too and then August . . . then Sapphie and Nora had to go back to their dorms at Lantern University. Miku and Kari were working for a local scared straight program even though they were just soldiers and they were in and out of the house a lot but they helped with the bills a lot. Soon the time seemed to go by quicker even though everyday it felt like it dragged unpleasantly. Before I knew it, it was October and my belly was gigantic and dropped lower slightly, meaning the baby was getting in position to be born. We found out we were having a boy in August and we were struggling on what exactly to name him. We were stumped; we looked through books of names, names on the internet but couldn't think of anything. Eventually we came to the agreement to wait until he got here to decide upon a name.

I was two months away from my due date in early December . . . and I had nothing for my baby except a one-sie that said "Sweetie Pie" with a slice of pie on it . . . I worried about getting our baby a crib and such.

At seven months pregnant, I looked full term, according to the doctor he was normal sized but I couldn't help but feel like there were like . . . three babies inside my womb. Well, maybe not three, but at least two! Either way the baby loved to move around more harshly now since he was much bigger and beginning to run out of space to roam freely.

Dr. Schwartz said he'd be perfectly healthy and that I could deliver him normally without a C-section. Since the hospital offered twenty dollar Lamaze class, I went to it . . . alone. Goku was always working and couldn't make it whenever I went, so other people coached me on breathing techniques and other things.

Goku liked to put his hands on my belly and press very gently to get the baby to respond to him and budge at his hand, sometimes kicking it. Even though we didn't have anything but a one-sie for our little boy . . . we couldn't wait for him to arrive.

When I wasn't cooking dinner or doing homework, I was attempting to knit baby socks and sweaters . . . but the only problem with that was I didn't know exactly how big he would be . . . either way, I made my best effort.

In late October around my birthday, I was given a small surprise when I lied down for a nap one Saturday afternoon however. Goku was home so he said he'd take a nap with me and he carried me upstairs. Everyone was mysteriously gone during the afternoon.

Goku lied in bed with me holding me until I fell asleep, talking lightly with me. He eventually woke me up, looking wide awake like he hadn't been asleep at all.

"Alice, come downstairs . . . we have a surprise for you." He whispered, picking me up as I rubbed my eyes.

I yawned and gagged lightly, feeling like I would puke. "What kind of surprise?" I asked, resting my head on his shoulder.

"You'll see . . ." he said smiling, carrying me down the stairs. He made me cover my eyes and took me to the couch, sitting me down. "Alright . . . open your eyes."

When I removed my hands from my eyes, Sapphie, Nora, Miku, and Kari were sitting before me with SEVERAL gifts on the floor all wrapped in paper that had pacifiers, onesies and teddy bears on them in different colors, along with a few big boxes.

I smiled brightly at such a surprise. "What is all of this?"

"A baby shower . . . what does it look like batty?" Miku said rolling his eyes.

"Oh! Thank you so much! I need whatever I can get so I'm so grateful that you all did this! You don't know how thankful I am!"

"It's no problem . . . we all pitched in and bought you a crib, a bassinet and a stroller too to go with the things that are wrapped. Go ahead and start opening some of the stuff." Kari said, smiling.

I began opening boxes filled with baby supplies. One box was filled with nothing but baby boy clothes from zero to twelve months. Another box was filled with nothing but pacifiers, some bottles and food as well as a bottle brush.

By the time I was finished opening these gifts, our baby had plenty of clothes, about ten packs of diapers, some toys to play with and a stroller, a bassinet and a crib to sleep in as well as a car seat. Some of these things were donated or bought by Goku's boss at Pizza Hut. Who knew Mr. Harris was so generous. But last but not least was one more gift from Miku. Inside there was a little gothic outfit for a baby boy and a black dress for a baby girl along with accessories like a black bow for the girl.

"Miku . . . you didn't have to get me the dress! We're having a boy!" I exclaimed, laughing.

"How do you know it's not a boy for sure? Mistakes like that have been made before you know . . ." Miku said laughing and I flicked his nose.

I thanked everyone for the gifts and wrote a thank you letter to Mr. Harris for his generosity then everyone helped me get everything into my and Goku's room.

A month later on November 28th, early, around ten a.m. I awoke feeling pains in my gigantic belly and checked myself out to make sure I wasn't bleeding. I wasn't bleeding . . . but instead I was having contractions. The baby was coming.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: And Unto us . . . Two Children are born?

Goku ran as fast as he could across town to reach the hospital nearly being hit by four cars. He was still wearing his over-alls, heavy coat and huge work boots on the way.

He had just reached the factory when Alice called him, experiencing contractions this morning . . .

"Gokuu . . ." Alice breathed before she gasped in pain.

His hands and feet stiffened and began to go cold as he realized what was going on. He began to shake lightly.

"Honey are you okay? Is the baby okay? Is it coming?" He asked hurriedly.

Alice let out a puff of air. "I think it is . . . I don't know . . . it could just be false labor-ooo!"

Goku sighed biting his lip as his shift supervisor glared at him sternly. Before Goku could speak again Alice laughed nervously as she caught her breath.

"Goku . . . don't worry . . . it's probably not labor . . . my due date isn't for two weeks . . . go on with your shift."

Goku sighed knowing it was useless to protest. "Fine, but I want you to go to the hospital if you have one. More. Pain. Understand?"

Alice gave in quickly as tenseness was in her voice. "Fine."

"Call me if something's wrong or if the baby is coming. I love you. Be careful." Before Alice could speak the receiver was clicked by Jonathan who smirked at him.

"Break's over. Quit talking with your girlfriend and get to work."

Goku hunched over in the hall catching his breath and ran to the front desk for directory and asked where Alice was. Once he had the information he ran to Alice's room.

Alice was lying in the hospital bed with her legs in stirrups and a fetal monitor strapped to her large exposed pregnant form. Her face was twisted with pain as a nurse tried to soothe her and Dr. Schwartz came from the small sink in the corner of the room and sat at the foot of her bed ready to deliver their baby.

Goku kneeled next to Alice's bedside taking her hand in his, giving it a gentle encouraging squeeze and a quick peck on the cheek. She looked up at him with teary eyes and a sweaty brow that furrowed when contractions hit.

"Alright Alice . . . take a deep breath, hold it and push!" Dr. Schwartz commanded.

Goku kept his eyes above her stomach. Alice remained silent as she shut her eyes obeying the doctor's orders, beginning to bear down. After a count of ten she stopped, catching her breath and started crying harder.

"Great! I can see the top of the head. On the next contraction give a great big push!" The doctor ordered again.

Alice obeyed and tears flowed as she groaned in pain. Goku kissed her cheek again, averting his eyes from the doctor and nurses whispering in Alice's ear.

"You can do it! Shh . . ." he smiled trying to keep her calm but bit his lip in nervousness.

The doctor continued to order her. "C'mon Alice, harder! Push! Push hard!"

"Ahh!" Alice cried at once and Goku thought his fingers would break.

"Good . . . the head is out, just a few more pushes and the baby will be born . . . don't push yet . . . he's gotta turn." The doctor commanded.

"Oooh . . ." Alice moaned as she squeezed Goku's hand as hard as she could. She turned to Goku and cried harder as the pain tightened its grip.

"It . . . hurts . . . I can't . . . do it . . ." Alice gasped out as her breathing sharpened.

"You can . . . You're strong . . . I know you can just breathe." He wiped her tears and kissed her.

"Alright push now!" Schwartz commanded.

Alice's face twisted again as she obeyed pushing. After a gasp then a loud scream from Alice, the room was filled with a cry and their son was born.

Dr. Schwartz held up the baby for Alice to see then clamped the cord on the crying baby, letting Goku cut it with a pair of scissors. The nurse took the baby to the other side of the room to weigh him.

Alice groaned as another contraction hit and she shuddered. The doctor looked at her and pressed on her stomach gently to get the afterbirth to come out.

"Give a little push . . ." Schwartz ordered.

Alice gave a push and Dr. Schwartz pushed a little harder on her stomach, all over until another head began descend and Alice groaned harder in pain.

"Alice, you're having another baby!" The doctor exclaimed.

"What?" Alice gasped as another contraction rippled through her.

"You're having another baby which better explains the abruption, regardless you're contracting now! Push hard!" The doctor ordered.

Goku's eyes widened as he wasn't expecting this and squeezed Alice's hand as she squeezed his and screamed and after a few pushed the second baby was out.

"It's a girl!" The doctor exclaimed, and then Goku shakily cut the other cord. Alice lied back in bed as they cleaned her crying baby girl off and took her foot prints.

I lied there in daze thinking to myself even though my body still ached. I just had a baby . . . two babies! A little boy and a little girl . . . and they were cleaning the girl off. She squabbled and squalled as they took her footprints and put her in a swaddle.

Soon both the swaddled boy and girl were placed in my arms and looked up at me with tiny black eyes. The boy looked more like Goku . . . but they both had my nose and a full head of messy black hair.

They were both so beautiful and each had tails that fell out of their blanket. Goku put each of his index fingers in their tiny open hands and when the babies closed their hands around his fingers he smiled uncontrollably and he began crying tears of joy, laughing.

It was amazing how much joy they had brought. Goku wiped his eyes and kissed me then let me begin breast feeding the two tiny babies.

"What are we going to name them?" Goku asked.

I looked at the boy. "His name will be Gerard Adien Son . . ." I then looked at the girl. "And her name will be Helena Margaret Son."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Precious then Ruin

"Huh . . . no wonder you were as big as a house." Miku remarked, looking over the twins. Sapphie held Helena in her arms and Kari held Gerard as they both slept, swinging their tails. They both looked at the little babies admiringly.

"Alice! They're SO cute! What are their names?" Sapphie asked cooing over the babies.

"The girl's name is Helena . . . and the boy's name is Gerard." I answered tiredly.

Nora tickled Gerard's cheek gently, causing his tiny nose to twitch. "So, where's papa Goku?"

I sighed remembering what had happened that morning . . .

It was after midnight when the nurses took my babies to the nursery so I could sleep . . . but I couldn't sleep at all . . . and stayed up all night, in silence.

Goku had long since fallen asleep after asking me nearly a million times if I needed something and going and looking at our babies. It was around nine A.M. when he woke up and kissed me on the cheek. I asked him to run home and get my bag and to also take some of the money I had stashed in a jar . . . it was about two hundred dollars altogether, fives and ones I had thrown in. We needed more baby things for Helena . . . since she was unexpected. We couldn't afford a crib for her but I told Goku to use the money to buy a double stroller and a few outfits. All I had for her to sleep in was the bassinet and all I had for her to wear was the black dress Miku had bought and she couldn't possibly fit into it for awhile.

Gerard weighed in at eight pounds even . . . Helena weighed in at five pounds, two ounces. She was considerably smaller than Gerard and needed several things but for now, the double stroller and few onesies would have to do . . .

Regardless, Goku came back an hour later, in a frantic rush, tossing my bag in the corner, setting the folded up stroller beside it and sat a grocery bag down that held plain colored onesies in it. Then he kissed the babies and me on the cheek and nearly ran out the door before I stopped him.

"Goku . . . where are you going? . . ." I asked, looking at him, shocked at his haste.

"Boss called, gotta go into work . . . he didn't sound too happy . . . I'll be lucky if I don't lose my job over this . . ." he said, rushed and panting, wheezing slightly.

With that, he gave me a short kiss on the lips and a hug then ran out of the room, running down the hall.

Everyone stared at me looking either angry or shocked or a combination of both.

"Man . . . they're relentless on him aren't they?" Nora sighed.

"Aww . . . but that's not fair . . . you just had babies . . . aren't people supposed to be able to get off work to stay with family?" Sapphie asked, frowning.

I shifted where I lied, feeling slightly nauseous looking over the food before me that seemed unappealing . . . I had no appetite anyway. I sighed. "Apparently not . . . they don't get any worker rights there . . . but Goku couldn't find very many places to work that would take him . . . mostly because all he had was a high school degree. Last night . . . before he fell asleep . . . he told me about taking up yet another job to help support everything since I can't work too vigorously still . . . my body needs time to re-adjust . . ."

I felt everyone in the room sink as they felt bad. Sapphie and Kari directed their attention back to the babies in their arms. Helena's nose began to twitch and her mouth opened slightly as she began squirming before she started crying. Sapphie's eyes widened and she quickly handed her to me.

I rocked her back and forth comforting her, calming her down, cooing to her to soothe her then allowed her to breastfeed, leaning back comfortably, pulling the blanket over the top of her head so no one could see it happening. Miku gave me a sickened look as awkward silence began to fill the room.

"What? . . ." I finally asked, looking at everyone.

"That's . . . kinda disgusting, Alice." Miku scoffed, turning away.

I sighed. "She's hungry, what do you want me to do?"

"It's okay . . . it's just . . . kinda awkward." Nora answered, backing out of the room, Miku soon followed. Sapphie and Kari remained, still looking on me awkwardly. I squirmed awkwardly where I lie as Helena fed, considering it felt weird.

Soon, Gerard was squalling loudly, more than likely needing fed as well and soon was being fed with my other breast, as I held both babies awkwardly. Everyone left after that, wishing me good luck, and I was alone again, except for the occasional nurse coming in to check up on me or to bring me water. When they finished eating, I burped them as carefully as possible. I was severely nervous even though I had handled the little ones all day . . . I only held a real baby once or twice and neither of them were newborns . . . they could each sit up and hold their head up.

I managed to get a hold of their pacifiers, color coded to their gender, pink and blue. Then I leaned back, holding each twin securely, with one in each arm. Helena's brown tail wrapped around my wrist loosely and she smiled, closing her eyes fully. Gerard's tail poked against my arm, flopping back and forth, kind of like a cat as he was already sleeping. I sighed hard beginning to feel heavy in the chest . . .

Before I knew it, I was crying uncontrollably, nearly sobbing as if I swallowed a black cloud . . . I quickly felt like I was trapped with no escape. I cried myself silly until I made myself swallow my tears and regain composure so I wouldn't disturb my precious little ones . . . I stared at them feeling so afraid. I don't want to screw up when it comes to them.

I heard footsteps beside me and look up to see Goku with a sad, disappointed expression that lightened up considerably when our babies came into view. He nodded towards them and I nodded back, helping him secure each of them in each of his arms so he wouldn't drop them. When he had them steadied, he carefully walked to the chair on the other side of my bed and sat down, leaning back, holding them. His eyes were covered by his spiky black greasy bangs and all I could see was his smiling lips.

I turned on a lamp as it started to get dark in the early evening and it made his face partially visible. His cheeks and chin had been invaded with hair and he had considerable scruff on his face, probably having not shaven for a few days. He looked worn . . . exhausted . . . I had barely noticed before now because he tried to cover it up but now . . . he was letting it leak through. His cheeks were thin and he had become thin from being corroded with work. I pushed the thought away as I continued to observe his actions.

He glanced between Helena and Gerard, not taking his eyes off them for a moment then suddenly he stopped. His shoulders and entire upper torso rose up . . . then fell as he let out a soft but breaking sigh. A few more silent moments passed and he stood up, walking to the hospital baby bassinets and lay them in them, gently. He kissed them both on the head and sat back down, head still hung, but the almost insane smile didn't leave his lips.

It seemed as though he was staring at the floor . . . and the heaviness in my chest grew as we continued to sit there. He didn't say anything . . . nor did he look at me . . . he just seemed to . . . stare at the floor . . . smiling with pain behind him that could have been pushing him into the depths of hell.

Finally, I felt like we had sat there awkwardly for too long and I forced myself over the side of the bed and over the handles on the bed to grab his hand tightly, nearly falling off the bed and held on to the bed with my feet.

"Goku . . . what's wrong?" I whispered, concerned, biting my quivering lower lip.

He didn't look at me and his hand lay limp and cold in mine . . . he finally lifted his head up and I could see his red puffy eyes . . .

"The factory laid me off . . ."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Heaviness.

I stared at Goku in disbelief.

"What? How? Why!" My voice wavered and began to rise but I hushed myself, staring wide eyed at Goku. He just sighed and put a hand over his eyes.

"I don't know . . ." He said gruffly, lowering his eyes from me. "They said they were sick of me griping and having to leave early. But I don't understand . . . because I only left early twice for emergencies for god's sake. They wanted to keep me longer last night but I left so you wouldn't be here alone . . ."

"But . . . what will we do? The hospital bill is already skyrocketed compared to before because there were two babies instead of one-"

"I know." Goku said harshly.

"And food is going up and up . . . and we have to buy diapers and things for Helena-"

"I KNOW." Goku said even more harshly.

I began to shake harder. "And the light bill . . . and the internet bill . . . and heat . . . oh god what are we going to do?"

He growled in frustration, yanking his hand away from mine and standing up suddenly. "I don't know Alice! I'm just gonna have to find another job or something . . . two more jobs to be precise. I DON'T KNOW. I don't have the answer!" he stood up and began pacing the floor hastily then left the room, shutting the door gruffly but not slamming it.

I felt bad . . . extremely bad. I felt one thousand times worse than I had before he arrived and my heart sank like an anchor into deep seas and didn't stop falling until it the chain was under stress, barely able to hold on. It hurt so bad I sobbed myself to sleep.

The next day, it was November 30th and I was able to go home with the twins. They didn't want us to walk home in the cold because the only vehicle transportation we had was Nora's van . . . and the nimbus cloud. Luckily, the kind nurse who didn't leave my side while I was in labor gave us a ride home and even bought Helena some supplies. Helena now had about twenty outfits and a car seat/carrier. I couldn't stop thanking her but she said to think nothing of it.

The first few days at home were extremely difficult . . . Gerard and Helena had to be fed around every four hours . . . which resulted in a diaper change an hour or two later. Breastfeeding was much easier than bottle-feeding . . . especially when Goku was away. It was still a little difficult because I had to support their heads and feed them at the same time.

Goku tried to help me breastfeed but it always ended in an argument because I felt like he pushed on Gerard's head . . . so I ended up doing it by myself. They both loved it when Goku held them however. They loved him and would give him smiles and occasional silly faces to match his. As for me . . . any silly face I made wasn't met as so . . . they remained neutral with me.

By the end of their first week home, I had become used to taking care of my precious children . . . mostly on my own as Goku found two new jobs. He got a new job working for a farmer doing whatever needed to be done. Since it was winter, they needed help with house work and getting the animals taken care of. He did this during the early morning until three in the afternoon, then would come home for lunch and leave in an hour to go work at Pizza Hut just to turn around after that three times a week to work the Graveyard shift at Wal-mart. The nights he didn't work at Wal-mart, he'd come home very tiredly and silent and eat his dinner.

Days dragged on . . . they didn't even seem like days anymore. It seemed like a never-ending day all wound into one that I would blink and wake up to the babies crying then I would cry with them. Never-ending exhaustion reaped upon my body . . . but sleep barely came. Hunger came as well . . . but no appetite. I ate what I needed to provide healthy milk to my children. At night when I lay them down to sleep, even though I could squeeze an hour or two of shut-eye . . . I couldn't.

I lie in my bed at night . . . staring at the twins as they lie in their crib and bassinet; their little tiny bellies popping up and down with each breath. I am terrified I'll wake up to find one or both of them not breathing . . . with this thought in mind, I would sob in despair even if Goku was there. They would both wake up to be fed and I would cry even as they ate.

By the time the middle of December was here . . . a week before Christmas . . . the night Sapphie, Miku, Nora, and Kari were all heading home together from college and from Miku and Kari's apartment . . . Goku and I barely spoke to each other.

On this night in particular, he came home working an earlier shift at Wal-mart because he had the night off at Pizza Hut.

I heard him trudge in heavily, shutting the door, pry off his boots then come into the dining room. I turned around from my work and saw him peel off his smock, throwing it to the side. I sat his dinner in front of him and he began eating, a tired expression consuming every last bit of him.

While he ate, I continued to work on the never-ending pile of dishes. I stood at the sink, a baby monitor nearby, scrubbing the grime and food that had been stuck to some of the plates for days now. My hands ached as they turned slightly red from the painful wrinkling they had by now. I stared at the window and noticed frost was setting in . . . although it was rather early.

Goku came up behind me, adding his current dish to the stack and headed upstairs. I took my aching hands out of the water and dried them off, wincing from how they had become just from water. I walked outside onto the painfully cold ground, barefoot, looking at the beautiful December night that was chilling me to the bone, up through my shins . . . into my knee caps, a throbbing ache. The moon was even absent on this night . . .

I began to take a short walk and stared up at the night's beautiful black sky with just traces of clouds that carried snow to add to the thin blanket that plagued the wood. But the dark sky was interrupted by something, a few flashes of bright light zooming by, almost like a car and then I heard loud honking as the ground beneath my feet changed and I tripped, falling. I looked to my left, seeing a huge van still honking and I hit the ground, passing out.

Nora had stopped the van just before he hit whatever he had saw and honked at. He threw his van into park and hopped out, running over to the un-moving body scooping her up off the ground, looking at her closely.

Miku yelled out the window. "Are they okay? Are they alive?! Do we need to call 9-1-1?!"

"IT'S ALICE!" Nora screeched, shaking heavily.

Everyone jumped out of the van running around to see their fallen friend. Miku took her, looking her over, making sure she wasn't bleeding and that she was breathing.

"She's alive . . . I think she'll be okay . . . let's take her back to the house . . ." Miku said.

Everyone agreed and they all huddled back into the van and drove Alice home. When they got there they found the door wide open from where Alice had practically wandered out and walked inside. Kari carried everyone's things in from where they would be staying in the house through New Years.

Miku carried Alice upstairs to her bedroom, finding Goku already sleeping, noting how worn he looked. He covered Alice up and made sure she had plenty of pillows under her head and tried to wake Goku up but it wasn't happening. Sapphie followed him in there soon afterward and looked over Alice then the twins who lie under the window in their crib and bassinet. She noticed Gerard's nose twitch and how he began squirming and Helena did the same soon after.

Miku picked Gerard up very carefully and carried him out of the room and Sapphie looked over Helena and finally carried her out of the room. They both took care of the twins for the rest of the night.

I awoke a few days later, dazed. It was now Monday night and I was confused. When I had passed out it was Friday night and I barely remembered what had happened. A cloth was on my forehead and the bed was made up for once. Kari walked in the room holding a bundled Helena, who was sleeping.

I looked upon her still feeling heavy inside. "Kari . . . what happened?"

She shrugged and lay Helena in her bassinet. "I'm not entirely sure . . . we think you wandered out of the house mindlessly and ended up in the street, nearly being hit by us . . . which leads me to ask." She looked at me seriously and Nora came and sat on the side of the bed Goku usually slept in, hugging me tightly. "What's wrong? . . . You've been acting weird ever since the babies were born . . . do you have post-partum depression?"

I sighed and hung my head. "I don't know Kari . . . I don't know what's wrong with me. Goku and I haven't had a real conversation since the morning after they were born . . . we've done nothing but argue. It's been silent here except for the baby cries and I'm a horrible mother." I explained shaking.

Nora gave me a sad puppy face and hugged me really tight. "You're not a horrible mother . . . maybe you just have post-partum depression? They say it's common. You just need to feel better . . . you look so . . . thin. So decrepit . . ." Nora said seriously.

I got up and looked in my full body mirror attached to the closet, realizing what they said was true. I had lost all of the weight from the twins and the pregnancy but was two times smaller than I was before I was pregnant. My ribcage was practically shoving out of my body and my face was thin.

"We'll help you get better at least until we leave to go back after Christmas vacation. Deal?" Kari said, patting my shoulder.

"Deal . . ." I said sighing.

Christmas was celebrated as usual . . . except it was dry. Our usual Christmas dinner was cut to a scrounging of food and presents were slim. Everyone bought Helena some things that she needed which I appreciated very much . . . but Goku wasn't even home on Christmas . . . he was working.

I became very good at acting. Although Kari and Nora tried to help me and everyone in general, I still remained depressed. I felt as though they were getting frustrated with me so I began to mask it and boy did I have them fooled. I still cried late at night and over the last two weeks of the year . . . I lost five more pounds.

A week had passed since they left and everything was back to the way it was before they came home trying to help me. The house was a wreck and I didn't have to wear my mask. Then one night . . . Goku came home angry.

** A/N: I understand that there are a lot of incomplete thoughts in this and it seems like a never-ending run-on sentence but that's what depression is like. It's a never ending run-on thought that hurts and drags along your soul like a razor. I just wanted to say I did a lot of research about Post-natal depression to write this chapter. Sure it's kind of obvious what the symptoms are and what not but I wanted to get in the complete mindset. I also read somewhere that about 20-30 years ago, in Europe, when a woman had a baby she would take awhile off of work to get to know her baby and bond with it. Her family members would sit around and help take care of her and the things that needed done. Someone would be in with her most of the time making post-natal depression or post-natal time easier. Today there is nothing like this or so they say. Anyways, I'll have the new chapter up soon. Hope you enjoyed this one even though it was horrible. Laters!3 **


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Run Away

It was two in the morning and I was watching over the twins who had just gotten into a good deep sleep . . . or for them at least. I heard the door open and practically slam downstairs. Helena and Gerard both twitched slightly but luckily didn't wake up. I heard a low grumble that sounded almost un-human and ran downstairs to see Goku's boots by the door and a light on in the dining room as I saw Goku's shadow shaking. I walked into the room and saw him standing over the bowl of soup I had put out for him a half hour earlier, not knowing for sure when he'd be home and having to have stayed upstairs to care for the twins.

His brows furrowed. He looked so frightening . . . his huge arms shaking, his large hands turning to fists. He looked at me with red bloodshot eyes . . . bags under his eyes like he hadn't slept in weeks . . . which I know he hadn't slept decently in weeks.

"I'm sick of soup . . . I'm sick . . . I'M SICK!" Goku shouted tugging at his hair, punching a hole in the wall, sending his whole fist through it. He was having a nervous breakdown or something. Tears streaming down his face, he kept punching at things, breaking part of the table, another hole in the wall, and he broke an entire table in one punch as well as a picture frame.

All I could do was watch and cry with him, feeling the same way I had felt for nearly two months . . . when I thought he was done punching things . . . I went up to him hugging him and crying as he cried as well. He shoved me off of him still shaking biting his lip so hard he was bleeding and started hitting things again, nearly hitting me three times . . . then he screamed at the top of his lungs and his eyes went a frightening red and part of his body began to morph . . . his mouth and nose into a mouth of sharp teeth and a snouted nose . . . in a flash he looked like a large gorilla and he flailed his arms slightly, hitting me into the wall.

I heard squalling from upstairs and ran for it, deciding I had to leave right there. Right then. I packed what I could and grabbed the squalling babies as the screaming turned to roaring and the ground quaked, nearly falling down. I wrapped both of them in swaddled blankets as fast as possible, putting caps on their head then held them close to me.

I ran down the quaking stairs, holding onto my squalling babies for dear life, trying to make sure they wouldn't be injured by the swift movements and the shaking and ran out the door through the snow and ice barefoot. Helena and Gerard still squealed and squirmed in my arms, getting louder until finally I stopped at the edge of the wood, lungs burning, needing air . . .

I began to cradle the two babies. "Shh . . . baby its okay . . . its okay." I gasped, collapsing to my knees, still cradling them. Soon my own tears came and as my babies began to calm down, I began to stir and sob.

I finally got them back to sleep and forced myself to stop crying as I stood up and began walking, trying to figure out where to go . . . what to do. I had no idea why what happened . . . happened. Goku and I hadn't spoken to each other much since that day he stormed out of the hospital . . . but I guess all of this was overwhelming to him too. I thought about myself too much . . . not only was I a bad mother, I was a horrible wife as well. Maybe more traits that I had came from my mother after all. I began to cry again, realizing I had no reason to live but at the same time wanting to for my babies. I couldn't just leave them on the street. I mean. . . I don't know. All I knew is that I couldn't let Gerard and Helena get hurt . . . if they had I wouldn't be able to live anymore . . .

I wandered through town and Silver City . . . the city that held Lantern University. I thought about going to Sapphie's dorm room . . . or Nora's . . . but I couldn't just come to their room in the middle of the night like this . . . someone might suspect something. I couldn't go to Miku and Kari . . . they'd ask too many questions . . . hell they'd all ask too many questions that I couldn't answer.

My feet began to go numb and I looked down to see blood in the snow. I must have stepped in glass. My body began shivering. If I didn't find heat soon . . . I'd die . . . even though the babies were wrapped up tightly in their swaddles they'd freeze to death as well . . .

I kept struggling, kept trying to find somewhere and wandered into the outer pits of the city . . . where the homeless lived . . . where I felt scared just from walking through. I saw shadows in the alleys . . . men and women . . . sleeping, echoing screams . . . the occasional gunshot followed by yelling. I had remembered **she **lived in this area . . .

I came to a really shady looking apartment complex . . . most individuals would refer to this area as the projects . . . I looked at the names on the large mailbox as each person had their own slot and saw her name . . . I had no choice . . . I never thought I would return to her . . . but here I was . . . trapped to make a decision.

Tolerance.

Or death to me and my babies.

I walked to her door, nearly slipping from the slick ground. Nearly falling. The babies were still sleeping in my arms . . . soundly . . . peacefully. The cold nipping at their tiny noses. I stared at the metal and wooden rickety door with the number 651 hanging . . . with the one hanging upside down. I bit my lip, debating on whether to turn back or not.

A cold wind sifted through, bringing me to my knees as my feet couldn't take anymore. I swallowed my pride and forced myself to stand up. I took both babies in one arm, holding them against my chest and knocked as hard and loud as I could then rewrapped the both of them then shivered more . . .waiting . . . waiting.

I hung my head as the door came open and her familiar snake-like voice spoke. "Alice . . . you've returned? Come in." she hissed as it sounded as though she held a smirk on her lips.

I crept into the house as the door closed behind me and I was back in the old hell.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: She's No Mummy Dearest.

I stumbled to a burnt orange couch in the middle of the room, limping as feeling returned to my limbs and my foot hurt extremely badly. It was different from the blue one we had when I was a child. I laid the babies on the couch and unbundled them slightly so they wouldn't be so hot. Mother came up to me and I felt her eyes on me and the babies.

"So . . . you went and got yourself pregnant?" She sneered. "Or are these someone else's?" she paced the floor as I heard her light a cigarette. She sat on the third cushion on the other end of the couch, her eyes darting between me and the twins . . . or from what I could see through my hair.

"They're mine . . . they're the only thing I'm living for." I said while shaking.

I brushed my hair from my face and looked at my Mother . . . her hair was shorter than I remembered . . . it was dyed black now and it came only to the top of her pointy ears before flaring out. She still had the same meanness in her eyes and the same bony hands . . . I couldn't deny that I looked like her though. Then her eyes met mine and she smiled.

"I thought you'd never return here . . . hmm?" She whispered, reaching down, picking Gerard up in her arms, pulling the top of his blanket off of his head. She looked over him cooing slightly at how adorable he was and began to play in his hair as he remained asleep. I leaned my head against the couch and sighed.

"I didn't have a choice . . . they would have been killed if I didn't." I spoke with my voice quavering.

She laid Gerard back on the couch and stood up, flicking her ashes in an ash tray and walked into another room, coming back with two bassinets. One was rickety looking, a faded blue with a few tiny holes in it. The other was a faded pink that was also rickety and shabby looking . . . she sat them on the floor, pulling out two old baby blankets from under her arms. She then took each twin, one at a time and un-wrapped them out of the tight, lightly wet from snow swaddles I had placed them in and wrapped them in the dry blankets before placing them carefully in each bassinet.

I sighed curled up in a ball, holding back my tears, not daring to cry in front of my Mother . . . she then went into the kitchen and came back with a couple of cups of hot chocolate.

"Alright . . . I wanna know what's wrong." She whispered, lighting up another cigarette.

I began to tell her everything, starting with when I got pregnant, going through everything in detail, how Goku and I struggled with finances and how I struggled through college due to working and trying to do college work. I told her of the scare of losing the twins and practically spilled my guts out.

"Goku and I haven't kissed since they were born. We love them so much . . . but he's become such a different person. Stress has practically killed him . . . he came home tonight and just . . . I guess he was mad over the soup. That's what tipped him over. Soup . . . cold soup . . ." I said as I started crying. "And he was so angry . . . he pushed me away from him and started screaming, shaking and turning into a monster . . . so I grabbed the twins and ran away as fast as I could, having no choice." My soft cries then broke into sobs and I fell against the middle cushion sobbing my eyes out.

I felt her bony fingers run through my hair as she let me cry. "Shh . . ." she soothed and picked me up in her arms still being bigger than me. She wiped my tears away and held her head to my chest. "What did I always tell you? Big girls don't cry . . . and you're a big girl now . . . you've gone and grown up. You've got a little girl of your own . . . a little boy too . . . you just gotta move on. I know I'm the last person to be tellin' you." She paused taking a long drag from her cigarette. "But you've just gotta straighten up and get your life together and not worry about . . . Guyku? Geeku? Poku? Whatever his name was . . . I know you may have thought you loved him but he endangered their lives. You did the right thing." She said, putting out her cigarette, pulling me up to face her.

As I stopped crying I felt more and more emotionally drained and exhausted . . . but for once . . . I could sleep. I sipped the last of my hot chocolate and Mother pulled my head to her breast and began stroking my hair until I fell asleep.

The next morning, Goku awoke in a hospital bed attached to several machines that beeped and hummed. There were suction tools attached to his chest, an oxygen mask over his mouth and tubes all over him. He looked around, feeling weak and weary and very confused. He only remembered coming home the night before, ready to blow up like a volcano, hoping that a hot meal would be waiting on his grueling drained stomach. He had trouble keeping anything down and had "back woods trot" as some called it. He was rather ill . . . but knew he couldn't afford to pay for a doctor visit. Well . . . that and the fact he hated needles.

"Wait a second . . ." he muttered, half awake, looking at the needles in his arms that woke him up completely.

The monitors began to squeal as Goku thrashed about the bed screaming about the needles in his arms. "AAHHH! NEEDLES!"

Sapphie ran into the room as fast as she could as nurses did as well, forcing another needle into his hip that had a low dosage of pain relief that calmed Goku down enough to sit still. They soon left to go call the doctor who had taken care of him and Sapphie took a seat next to the bed.

"I see the gargantuan monster is now awake . . ." Sapphie said sighing, looking sad.

"Gargantuan monster? . . . Are you talking about me?" Goku asked breathing a little heavier.

"Yes . . ." she replied looking at the ground, shaking her head.

"Why? What happened? Where's Alice?" Goku asked, growing more frantic as he asked the questions.

Sapphie looked up at him, looking him dead in the eye, looking like she could cry any second. "We don't know where she is . . . we were coming home for the weekend and there was a huge hunk of the house . . . just gone . . . and there you were . . . in your ape form, screaming." Sapphie began to shed a few tears as she couldn't look at Goku anymore. "When we finally got you calmed down and into your normal state, you were barely breathing and fell into unconsciousness. Miku and Nora rushed you to the hospital. Kari and I searched for Alice . . . and Gerard and Helena. They were gone."

Goku's heart sunk twenty million feet and he felt tears come into his eyes. "NO! They can't!"

"We don't know!" Sapphie said crying. "There were no bodies or anything. We don't know if she was killed or if she ran . . . and if she did run where did she go?! We have no idea."

Goku buried his face into his palms and sobbed, not believing what he just heard. His wife was gone, either dead or missing. His children in the same position. He pulled the covers off of him and tried to get up out of bed only to fall down.

"I gotta go find them!" He shouted as nurses came back in and forced him back into bed.

"Mr. Son, you've just suffered a major stress panic attack, you need rest to recover! You can't go anywhere!" The doctor yelled.

He cried even harder and tried to fight them, growing angrier by the second until his other friends came in and Kari flicked him on the nose.

"Stop acting like this . . . Alice would want you to get better first." Nora said.

Goku cried even harder and lied back down against his pillows, trying to rest and ended up crying himself to sleep, even with everyone there.

A week later, I had grown better. Living with my Mother allowed me to get recuperated with life. I didn't feel so gloomy or sad about plain life or my babies . . . it really helped my depression . . . but the only thing keeping me down now . . . was not seeing Goku. No one called . . . no one did think to look for me here. They were all clueless of my existence or where I was . . . but I suppose it was for the best. Mother told me every night that it was for the best. The babies slept better here . . . I was able to sleep there and soon I was able to start eating again. Over another week, I had gotten back into the swing of my college routine by going to the library and working online to complete my assignments and finally after a month, I was better despite the fact I didn't have Goku. I wasn't over him. I still wept for him and I found myself worrying if he was fed or taken care of . . .

At night, I wish he were curled up with me in the twin sized bed I used to sleep in as a child. I also had nightmares . . . about the event . . . about the things that had happened here before but . . . Mother helped me. She had proven she had changed . . . and I found myself loving her again.

One day, I was at the grocery store with my two precious angels in the cart, cooing at their surroundings and at me . . . when I ran into a short chubby man in a white suit and I recognized him as my old employer from Pizza Hut. Mr. Hill.

"Well if it isn't MRS. Son!" he exclaimed, heavily implying the fact Goku and I were married, slapping me hard on the back causing me to fall forward. He was chuckling and he looked at the babies. "Aww, are these the little ones Goku was tellin' me about? They're mighty precious!"

I laughed nervously, feeling heavy in the chest having been reminded of Goku and smiled. "Thanks . . . they're my treasures."

"I bet so. Say, were you lookin' for another job?" He asked with a big grin on his face.

"Why yes . . . I was, sir. Why?" I asked, leaning in to talk with him, lowering my voice.

"Well, I'm full up at Pizza Hut right now but my brother owns Slausen's Ice Cream and I know you'd be a darn good worker. Why don't you go on down there for an interview on Friday? That's interview day. I'll even put in a good word for ya! So what about it?"

"Oh well of course, sir! Thank you so much! I'll go for sure!" I exclaimed, growing excited on the inside.

"Well alright then! See ya around! Tell Goku I said Howdy and hope he's doin better!" Mr. Hill exclaimed as he walked out of the grocery store with his cart.

I hopped up and down with glee, knowing my life was back on the path to semi-normal . . . but I worried about Goku so much more. What did he mean by 'hope he's doin better'?

Goku lied on the couch of his home as the construction had just finished a few days before that. All of his three jobs had graciously given him leave to relax since he nearly had a heart attack. Miku and Kari paid for most of the reconstruction of the house and they stayed in it to try and locate Alice.

Goku barely slept . . . he had to cry himself to sleep or take some kind of medicine. His mind never left the thought of Alice or the babies and it was driving him to the brink of madness. The rest of his friends searched and searched desperate to find her as well until one day they stopped and tried to think of a place she might have gone while all sitting in the living room. Then it came to both Miku and Goku.

Her Mother's house. It was a stretch, but they thought they should look there . . .

Finally it was the morning of the interview for me and I had put on a professional suit that Mother had bought for me. I kissed my babies goodbye as Mother held them and went off to the ice cream place. Out of three, I was the only one who had dressed professionally and I felt that the interview went very well. As I walked home I felt warm, smiling for once and not stopping. I was going to survive this. My children would survive. I'll be a good mother after all.

And just as I got home, my smile vanished . . . I instead felt acid hit my heart and I panicked. The babies were gone. My Mother, gone. I desperately searched for a note, a hint, something that would prove the scene was innocent and not guilty. Something that kept my current view of Mother true . . . but then I found the proof that she hadn't changed . . .

A post-it note hung on the fridge that read "$2,000 dollars-White Male Baby. $1000-White Female Baby."

Mother had kidnapped my children. She was going to sell them.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Lone.

I stood there staring not believing what I just saw. I put my coat back on and ran outside, running in the streets, looking in every window, crevice and crack from every window and place in the small neighborhood. I ran into the last alleyway in the area, tripping over a homeless man who was sleeping, covered up with a newspaper, falling on my face scraping my knees and face pretty bad, but I didn't care. I looked further down the alley and saw her . . . but not my babies.

I ran to her, stumbling slightly as she laughed manically, holding a bag of black powdery stuff that looked like it had the consistency of brown sugar. She laughed and shook in her shoes as she eyed her drugs looking like a deranged wolf with rabies . . . I pushed her against the wall, shaking as tears poured from my eyes.

"Where are they?! Where are my babies?!" I screamed at her, growing more and more emotional each second. Soon the tables were turned however when she grabbed me by the hair, throwing me to the ground.

"You're a little brat!" She started kicking me, hard and then began stomping on my torso. I screamed yelling at her to stop and she ripped me up off the ground again by my hair, slamming me into the wall I had pushed her against. "I need my sugar; you don't need those little heathens at all. You can't afford them anyway! What kind of Mother are you?! At least this way, I can have my RENT PAYMENT. HE pays good money for children!" She hissed threateningly as she punched me hard in the stomach.

I coughed and winced as all pain was inflicted on me and more tears streamed down my face. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what I **could** do. My babies were in the hands of an unknown man. What was I to do?

Mother ran, out of the alleyway and down the street, faster than a lightning bolt. I ran after her as fast as my feet could manage with burning lungs and finally chased her back to the house, not sure if I was following her footprints or mine that were in the light snow. When I reached the door I was hit on the head and knocked over, being kicked again and screeched at by Mother. I covered my head with my arms and something happened that I didn't expect.

"HEY!" I heard a man's voice shout.

There was a struggle and Mother was pushed off of me. I was lifted off the ground but I was afraid to look to see who it was. Their big rough callused hands grabbed my wrist gently, trying to get me to look at them.

"Alice! Alice! It's okay! Look at me! Please Alice . . ." a familiar voice said.

I peeled my arms away from my head and looked at whoever held me and it was Goku. Tears quickly refilled my eyes and I started sobbing, feeling so many emotions at once. He hugged me tight in his arms and stroked my head. I sobbed into his soft brown sweater like a little girl.

He pulled me away from his chest shedding a few tears himself but smiled at me. "I thought I was never gonna see you again!" He kissed me then held me close to him again.

I couldn't stop crying and I turned to face Miku holding our Mother down as she hissed and screeched at him.

"ALICE WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING COMING HERE?!" Miku shouted at me as he managed to gag our screaming Mother.

I stayed close to Goku, my eyes still pouring tears. "I . . . I don't know! At the time, I didn't know what to do . . . I told myself that I couldn't go to you and Kari or Sapphie and Nora because . . . you might think something else. I wasn't thinking straight and by the time I wandered here . . . my feet were bleeding and I was freezing to death! And so were the . . ." I trailed off in despair and began sobbing again.

"Where's Gerard? Where's Helena?" Goku asked, looking around. He walked up to the two bassinets in the living room and looked in them as his face sunk because he didn't hear them or see them.

"Goku . . ." I sobbed harder. "Mother . . . she . . ." My voice trailed off again as I sunk to my knees and sobbed into my hands, unable to tell him.

Miku looked threateningly at our Mother. "What the hell did you do with their children? HUH?!" he asked, slamming her into the ground.

Mother smirked and Miku pulled the gag off her mouth. "I sold them to someone who knows you VERY well you little fucker . . . I hope he fucking kills them too. The address is in there on the fridge. Go on. Knock YOURSELF dead!"

Miku screamed with fury having already had pent up anger towards Mother and he threw her through the wall and threw her drugs at her then grabbed a scrap of paper off the fridge. "We have no time . . ." he then looked at the address and his face turned a pale white.

Goku was shaking with rage and grabbed me up off the ground. "Let's go!"

Soon we ran home to get Kari and Nora and some weapons. We all loaded into the van, buckled up and went on a bumpy ride. I didn't pay attention to what direction we were going because my mind raced. My babies were gone . . . they weren't in my arms. They could be anywhere. I had a feeling Miku knew this address . . . but to spare my thoughts he didn't say. I imagined the most gruesome ugliest people in the world. Lower than dirt, lower than scum.

"Drive faster Nora!" Goku shouted out suddenly. He was still shaking with anger.

"I'm driving as fast as I can!" Nora said, swerving into a country road that had been poorly paved. Up ahead there was an abandoned warehouse with smoke coming out a makeshift chimney. The van screeched to a stop and Goku was the first to jump out and run inside. Without thinking, I followed him and several guns were pointed in my face.

"Boss! Get out here!" A man with a deep voice yelled.

Goku took my hand, shaking with rage and fear and I squeezed his hand. Miku, Sapphie, Kari and Nora all burst in seconds later carrying their weapons and had guns pointing at them as well.

"Well well well . . ." A deep voice said. A man with slicked back black hair came out and looked at me first and Miku. "If it isn't the Robles children?"

My eyes widened as I recognized who it was. It was the man who haunted my subconscious and memories no matter how deep I buried them. Miku's old gang leader . . .

Ki.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Ransom.

I stared at Ki with wide eyes, frightened out of my mind as a big grin spread across his face.

"You . . . I still have a scar from you. You little bitch." He said smugly.

My babies were in the hands of someone who once tried to rape me . . . the leader of the gang Miku was under at one time . . . I never knew for sure if he quit. Ki was a sorcerer . . . his magic was very powerful and countered mine very easily. I had repressed it as much as possible but now . . . the memories flooded back.

It was mid-December. Miku and I needed a place with heat to stay. Our house was far too cold to stay in. No matter how much we huddled together . . . no matter how many quilts or articles of clothing we had piled onto our bodies along with any sheets we had, we were freezing to death so much our extremities were numb.

Miku growled lowly under his breath and ripped the covers off of us in the dead of night. It was pitch black outside and in the house, the only light being the pale moon that seemed to have a light switch as clouds passed over it. He jerked me up out of the bed on the floor and wrapped us both in a quilt. I was half asleep.

"Miku . . . where are we going? . . ." I groaned and shivered as he dragged me out the door.

"We can't stay here, Alice. It's too cold, we'll freeze to death! Besides, I know somewhere we can stay; even if it's just for a few days . . . I know he won't mind." Miku replied.

We began to march through the weather that wisped outside, huddling close together for warmth, my older brother making sure I was warm. We marched through town, through an area we ran from. We went through several alleyways until we came to a wide grassy field on the other side. We were now running through it and eventually we came to an abandoned warehouse.

Miku quickly rushed inside after muttering something to someone and I was taken into a small warm room. I sighed in ecstasy as warmth returned to my body as I was laid on the ground.

Miku was talking with someone . . . but I didn't know who. Soon, a bigger heavier quilt was placed over me and I quickly fell asleep.

The next morning, I awoke still warm, someone was on top of me but we were both bare and there was pain in my hips. There was a teenage boy on top of me thrusting in and out of me. I screamed as loud as my lungs would allow and struggled beneath him, managing to throw him off of me.

Soon his hands were over my wrists holding me against the wall as he smirked. I'll never forget that face. He had a thick jaw line with a small goatee and his hair was slicked back, black with spikes in the very back. One eye was covered with a large red patch and the other was the most beautiful haunting green I'd ever seen.

"Oh come on . . . Alice was it? . . . You've been picked by the leader with that beautiful body of yours . . . you should feel honored."

Cornered, I shook where I stood. He began to kiss on my neck and my chest as he squeezed my wrists to keep me in place, I kept struggling screaming as his grip tightened to the point I thought my bones would snap. Finally, I thrust my knee into his crotch before he could proceed and it made him let go. I was able to get away and grab a knife that was in a desk drawer. As he grabbed me again with a scowl on his back I drove the knife through his right shoulder and he dropped me to the ground, screaming at me. I grabbed a sheet and ran through the old dusty but warm warehouse, up three flights of stairs then through a large room, tripping over several teens and children before being grabbed by the arm. I screamed and tried pulling away before a hand was placed over my mouth. I kept struggling harder and harder then finally stopped and began sobbing, accepting my defeat. The person dragged me into a closet and struck a match.

"What the hell are you doing?! If Ki wakes up you're gonna get us kicked outta here!" Miku growled at me, smacking me on the arm.

My lower lip trembled harder and I began to cry harder. "He was raping me! I don't want to stay here! I'm leaving with or without you!" I yelled at him.

Miku growled again and blew out the match. He put his shirt on me which reached my knees and wrapped the sheet around both of us and stormed out into the snow running as fast as he could, picking me up after becoming frustrated that I couldn't keep up. We finally made it back home when the sun was coming up and were sick for three days after that.

Goku squeezed my hand, death glaring the eye patched man that stood mere feet before us. I remained close to him.

Ki chuckled lowly. "Why don't we all settle this like adults, eh? Put our guns and weapons on the floor and . . . have a seat?" he snapped his fingers and a small card table was brought out along with 7 chairs, 6 arranged on one side and one on the other. He waited for everyone to lower their weapons then took a seat at the chair that sat alone then motioned for us to sit down. Goku and I sat next to each other directly across from him. I shook like a leaf while he continued to glare angrily, his energy rising.

"What business have you here?" Ki asked, leaning back in his chair.

"You have our babies . . ." I said desperately.

"Oh? Do I? Where would I keep a child in this place?" Ki said, glaring at me.

"Maybe in one of the several rooms you have here! Maybe in the basement!" I shouted, starting to get angry.

"Oh poor naïve Alice . . . I'm afraid you're looking in the wrong place." Ki grinned.

Goku's fists hit the table as he reached across it grabbing Ki by the collar. "WHERE ARE THEY?!"

Several guns were then pointed at us as Ki just continued to smirk. Goku suddenly went flying through the air and hit the wall with a loud thud. I got up to rush to Goku's side but was blown back against it with him, hitting my head hard, blacking out. The next thing I knew I was in a forest with everyone else around me, blacked out as well. I found a note.

"To get your children back, you must sacrifice . . ." and it was written in blood. I looked at the ground to find locks of black hair with some blood when I reached down to touch it, I was sent flying into a tree as then heard loud crying.

What is this puzzle?


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: A Maze of Mystery

The crying echoed louder and louder until finally I was left screaming. A loud piercing baby's squall filled the air causing me to put my hands over my ears and shut my eyes in pain. The ground was gone beneath me now and I desperately reached for something to grab onto. There was nothing and there was everything. Nothing to grab onto as my eyes snapped back open. Visions of my children in pain immediately filled this void of nothing. I was falling, screaming through the squalling. Bright flashes of vivid images were in my eyes. Gerard's eyes were gouged out and Helena hung by her own tail. I began sobbing as I tried to grab her as I tumbled. I tried to grab both of them. I fell through papers that all read "F" then a loud voice echoed.

"You fail as a mother, you fail as a student, and you fail as a wife but most of all YOU FAIL AS A PERSON. MAY YOU REST ONLY IN HELL!"

I hit the ground with a hard thud, upside down on my head, beginning to vomit, and then I saw two tiny figures in the distance. I heard babies start giggling and I started running toward them. Soon I saw my babies; they were smiling, giggling, and clapping. They reached their hands towards me. They became closer in view. Closer.

In a quick motion I went to scoop both of them up but instead there was a loud crash and I was back in the forest, through the stained glass window of an abandoned church. I was bleeding from a gash in my leg. Pain surged up through my body as I rolled over and forced myself to stand up, grunting lowly, struggling to breathe.

"Are you okay?" a soft voice whispered as two large hands placed themselves on my shoulders, squeezing gently like Goku does. I turned around expecting to see him but instead there was a red eyed mantis hissing at me, picking me up and holding me before pulling me closer to its mouth. I shut my eyes tight screaming for help and tried to get away from its clutches but with a loud clang I was in a hot steamy pool of acid, screaming as I felt my flesh melt feeling as though the suffering would never end but I blinked and I was chained to a wall by both arms, rusty shackles feeling as though they could cut through my wrists.

The bloody locks were lying at my feet with a note that opened and flew up before my eyes with a voice echoing. "Those who share the blood must not touch, you learned the hard way. The others might be as foolish. If they make it here, you know they have been."

I shuddered as I looked around me, only a dim fire lit a few feet in front of me and it appeared as though I was in a dungeon. The cold shackle was tight around my wrist, causing me pain as I hung by them. I shivered and shut my eyes tight once more, afraid to open them.

I hope someone finds me.

Goku awoke and stood as everyone else was blacked out around him. He searched for Alice first and when he found that she was gone, he panicked. He went to each of his friends, shaking them.

"Miku . . . Miku wake up! Sapphie! C'mon! Someone's gotta wake up! Alice is . . ." and that's when he saw it. The same bloody black locks were next to Miku's head. He shuddered and touched his own head first, hoping they were his . . . but found no blood. His eyes widened and his pupils thinned.

"No . . . No!" His hair turned golden, his pupils and iris dissolved into white as rage overtook him. He grabbed the locks in his fist but screamed as he was thrown through the wood into a pool of blood that corpses were bathed in. He struggled, sputtering as he had been thrown in, spitting the blood that had entered his mouth, losing his power as his anger was exchanged for fear.

Two tentacles wrapped around his arms and legs together and drug him down through the water. He struggled as hard as he possibly could then found himself lying on a cold sterile looking environment. He sat up, rubbing his eyes, the blood was gone off of his hands but now, he saw a new sight.

Helena and Gerard were sitting on an examination table looking scared. Goku stood up quickly and began walking toward them but as he did the room seemed to move them around. They began to cry harder each time they were transported. Goku was soon angry as he shook, trying to figure out what to do.

Suddenly a large man in green scrubs and gloves as well as a doctor's mask burst through the door and grabbed the twins, putting them on a table and taking them elsewhere.

"HEY! STOP! COME BACK!" Goku screamed as he ran after the quick paced doctor. The doctor took several twists and turns then finally went through a door to a medical theater, being locked out. Goku kicked the door in and went in only to be thrown in a seat in the front row of seats, surrounded by smiling men who didn't breathe nor blink.

What he saw next was truly terrifying.

The twins were now strapped to two large slabs of metal as they squalled louder and louder before having duct tape placed over their lips. They both had been shaved bald, their eyes puffy and streaming with tears as they trembled with fear. The doctor now had two long gloves on and a large syringe filled with a thin bubbly red liquid, almost looking like soda. He drew back and plunged it into Gerard, causing him to squeal in pain and keep screaming as he pushed the plunger.

Goku lunged from his seat only to be held back by the hundred smiling men. He shouted at the top of his lungs, screaming at the doctor so much his words just became incomprehensible. The doctor did the same thing to Helena and soon both children were shaking violently, they began to froth at the mouth and then finally they lay limp on the slabs.

Tears jumped to Goku's eyes as he screamed and broke free from the tons of arms that held him back. He was screaming shaking violently, tripping over his feet as he ran toward the doctor who was standing back, impressed with his work. Goku tackled him to the ground and ripped his mask and hat off only to freeze, feeling his heart stop.

The man under the mask was him, smiling sickly with eyes that had no sparkle in them. These eyes looked at him then his mouth opened up wider than Goku ever thought possible and swallowed him whole into a mess of syringes that injected into him all at once. He screamed loudly until he awoke, chained next to Alice in shackles that couldn't be broken. Even with a man of his strength.

"Goku . . .?" Alice whispered.

Goku looked at her and shook where he stood. He noticed she was biting her lower lip and realized how much pain she must have been in, how tight the shackles were around her wrists. His feet touched the ground; he wasn't short enough to hang from the trap.

"Alice . . ." Tears sprung to his eyes as he felt sick to his stomach from what he had witnessed. "Alice . . . you're okay."

"I'm fine . . . are you okay? Are you crying?" She asked in a whisper.

"Alice our children are dead." Goku cried out in a pained voice causing Alice to flinch and shake harder.

"What happened? How did they die?! Where did you see them?!" she sobbed.

"They were injected with needles filled with red acid! They started foaming at the mouth then they lay limp. Dead!" Goku sobbed even harder, kicking the wall they were shackled against.

Alice couldn't believe her ears and she was hysterical, continuously sobbing until finally she made herself sick and made herself black out. She hung there by her wrists, limp. The scent of blood filled the air as the shackles cut into some of her wrist.

Goku didn't stop sobbing . . . he stared out into the darkness, unable to think of anything except the pain of what he had witnessed.

Miku awoke next, finding everyone else still blacked out and his sister and brother-in-law gone. He growled under his breath and thought to himself. "Yeah Alice, where the hell is your strategy now? Where the hell did you two go?"

Miku went over to Nora and Kari, kicking them in the shins, trying to wake them then kneeled next to Sapphie when he wasn't successful trying to wake them up. He was gentler with Sapphie until he became frustrated and started shaking her. When she wouldn't wake up he sighed heavily and went to pick her up, but before he did, he noticed the bloody black locks and grabbed them angrily, sniffing them, noting that they had the babies' scent.

Two hands reached out of the ground and pulled him through the earth to a hot center, where he saw Gerard and Helena's face's ablaze and screaming. He tried to reach in the flame to pull them out but instead caught aflame as well. He yelled and tried to get away then fell in a pit, landing on a bed, in a small house.

Hinata came through the door in a drunken rampage, looking larger than she normally did. She ripped him from where he sat and threw him about the room lying on the bed groaning as she held a round pregnant belly. Miku looked upon her, confused as to where he was, remembering a similar scene when he was younger. Her voice boomed something barely comprehensible.

"Get over here you little fucker!" she yelled.

Miku flinched unable to comprehend where he was. He saw the larger frightening image of his mother pull her legs back and put her chin to her chest as she exploded with a monstrous looking man standing before him. This man looked at him with his red eyes and black hair and Miku felt as though he was looking in a mirror.

"Father? . . ." Miku asked almost asking more but before he could, the cold hands were around his throat and he was being strangled then consumed, passing out.

When he awoke he was chained into the wall as well by an arm and a leg to make it more difficult. He heard Goku's sobbing and growled beneath his breath trying to get out of the contraption.

"Goku, what the hell?! Where are we?!" Miku shouted causing Goku to look around him hurriedly.

Goku's sobbing slowly withdrew as he took in shaky breaths. "I don't know . . . how'd you get here Miku?"

Alice had come to by now and was hanging without any movement, sobbing silently. "Miku's here?" she whispered.

"I got here after I picked up some bloody black hair and went through the weirdest . . . places I've ever been. I think Ki is fucking with us. I saw the babies in a raging inferno but then I was somewhere else . . . how could that possibly happen?" Miku asked.

"Wait . . . that's right . . . you're not supposed to touch it . . . if you share the blood . . ." Alice spoke as if she was talking to herself.

"What are you talking about Alice?" Goku said, his voice going stable.

"I touched bloody hair too . . . it was the baby's hair . . . and when I ended up here, a note appeared and told me that if we shared blood with the babies . . .we would go through something to get end up here."

"WELL THAT'S JUST GREAT!" Miku yelled, fighting harder and harder to get freed.

Suddenly there were two people screaming heard and they plopped on the ground in front of the three being tied up to a metal pole. It was Kari and Nora. When they came to, not long afterwards they looked around and tried to be freed.

"But Alice . . . Kari and Nora aren't related to you, me or Miku . . ." Goku said quickly.

Alice spoke again. "Kari . . . what did the two of you do before you fell here?"

"We uhh . . . uhh . . . WE FUCKED!" Nora blurted out smiling.

Kari growled and tried to hurt him in some way but couldn't find a way. "No! We fell in a hole and went through some weird . . . trials or some crap. Your kids were hanging upside down in the window of a butcher shop . . . but it didn't look real."

"Ki is fucking with us." Miku yelled once more.

A loud laughter echoed through the air as everyone looked around to see someone appear in the middle of them.

Ki floated down wearing his thick black cloak and black suit as well as thick black leather gloves. He laughed maniacally for a good while then looked at all of them smirking.

"You fool! I thought it would take you longer to all end up in the same trap! I guess I was wrong! I'm so happy I got the whole thing on tape though." Ki grinned from ear to ear and threw a burning picture in the air.

"Wait, where's Sapphie?" Kari asked, glancing around.

The Polaroid shot of Sapphie had expanded into a canvas portrait that landed on the ground with a thud and leaned against a tree.

"The weakest person of your little group should be waking up just about now . . . yet I'm sure she won't last. We'll see." Ki grinned.

Sapphie awoke in the forest alone. She looked around already beginning to be a little scared and began to roam the dark forest before bumping into a tree and falling into a ditch.

Her vision blurred just as she saw that she was at the start of a hedge maze with random buzzing about. She got up and began to slowly enter the hedge maze using her other senses to lure her through. As she continued to walk straight she ran smack dab into a sign that a voice echoed its message.

"Choose the right way. Don't let your eyes fool you." It read.

To the left was a thorn infested track that appeared to be dangerous and grim while to the right was a beautiful with paved with roses to each side. Sapphie's eyebrow quirked up as she debated on which path to take. The right path looked safer . . . but the left path smelled sweeter. She began walking through the left path, sighing to herself.

She waited for the consequence of her choice but then realized that it wasn't so bad after all . . . until she heard a buzzing noise. A chainsaw buzz was heard and she turned around to see a large man wielding a chainsaw. She screamed and began running as fast as she could through the maze, getting thorns in her arms and legs and getting bit by a few strange bugs that made the thorns fall out until finally she tripped and fell through a door into a small room with a circle of multicolored keys.

A voice echoed again, loudly.

"I don't know how you found this place . . . I can't believe you were so clumsily lucky. I would have thought Raul could have caught up with you and knocked you into the sequence to take you into my trap but whatever. These keys will take you to the babies and to your friends. But be prepared to put up a fight!"

Sapphie's eyes widened and she grabbed all the keys and unlocked a door, walking forth to the place Alice, Miku, Goku, Kari and Nora were trapped. They all looked upon her with extremely shocked eyes but thankful at the same time.

"Holy crap! She saved US for once!" Nora shouted staring at Sapphie in disbelief.

Alice's eyes filled to the brim with tears. "Thank you so much Sapphie! I knew you could do it!"

"I must say . . . I'm shocked." Miku commented.

A black key from Sapphie's hand rose up in the air and busted into confetti causing everyone to be freed. After stretching, they all made their way to another section of the area, following the vines on the wall.

Six doors stood before them, each one matching the colors of the keys in Sapphie's hand. Each one also had a name carved into the wood. Miku's door was red, Sapphie's was blue, Alice's was yellow, Goku's was orange, Nora's was green, and finally, Kari's was blue. The only key a door didn't account for was the white key.

"I think we're supposed to unlock them in a certain order . . ." Sapphie said looking at all the keys in her hand.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard, like what order?!" Miku yelled.

"Ki seems to be making a huge emphasis on who is strongest and who is weakest . . . maybe that's why each door has our name carved in it." Alice said, staring at her door at her name adoring how it was written in a Disney font.

"You mean we're gonna have to decide who is the strongest here?" Goku asked.

"Sounds like it to me bro, which in that case it's you." Nora said grinning.

"NO WAY! It's me!" Miku screeched getting up against Goku, about to punch him.

Sapphie stepped between them. "Let's vote, shall we? Who thinks Goku's the strongest?"

Everyone except Miku and Goku raised their hands and so Sapphie took the orange key and placed it in the orange door keyhole. The voting continued and the 6 people were placed as strongest to weakest. Goku was strongest, Miku was second strongest, Kari was third, Nora was fourth, Alice fifth and Sapphie was sixth.

Suddenly an extremely tall white door appeared and the white key opened it. Everyone entered inside to see the two twins lying on a feathery bed, sleeping peacefully, sucking pacifiers.

Alice ran up to them with tears in her eyes and scooped them off the bed sobbing, happy to see them again and kissed them repeatedly, gently so she wouldn't wake them up. Goku kissed their tiny foreheads as well, thankful to see them again and took them in his arms, not wanting to let them go.

But then they vanished into smoke . . .

"Oh god where did my babies go now?!" Alice screamed at the sky.

And that's when the monster was in view.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Torture

The room darkened as it filled with smoke. The cloaked man they now knew all too well was still in view as he lowered from the ceiling touching the ground with a slight thud. Goku took a brave step toward him, growing angrier by the second. Alice shook with fear not knowing what could or would happen next. Everyone remained tense, unmoving. Some stood gritting their teeth, wanting to attack the sorcerer. Miku held Kari and himself back, knowing Ki's full potential, being completely familiar with it.

Goku growled rather audibly, his eyebrows furrowing as his entire body shook with rage. "YOU'RE SUCH A COWARD!"

A flash illuminated through the smoke as the ground began to shake. Goku's hair was whishing upward as an unknown energy surged upward pushing his hair up like it was wind. With a yell, he was transformed; his black eyes turned to a pale bluish green and his hair turned blonde as his muscles buffed outward. In another bright flash through the darkness, Ki swept Alice up effortlessly vanishing without a trace within seconds.

"ALICE!" Goku shouted, blasting at Ki with energy. The others ran forth throwing things, trying to stop Ki from leaving with her; but it was too late. He was gone.

Goku powered down, feeling defeated and decided he had to find Alice and the babies while Ki kept playing this game.

Alice awoke in a white room, bound by leather straps to a lab table like some sort of experiment. The only body part she could move freely was her head. Ki walked up to her shortly after she woke, wearing a smirk on his face.

"Well, I see my patient is awake." He remarked slyly as he pulled a table of tools to his side allowing Alice to see them.

His tools consisted of a hand gun that appeared to be mint condition, miniature electric drills similar to those found in a dentist office and several tools that couldn't be named but looked threatening. The most puzzling tools were tiny shoes and string . . . together.

"I will make you the perfect wife." Ki uttered, smirking.

"W-What are you talking about Ki?" Alice asked quickly, eyeing his movements closely.

He kept his back turned for several minutes causing tension and uneasiness within Alice as fear broiled within her blood, up her spine. Ki kissed her on the lips although she squirmed in protest, trying to jerk her head away. He grabbed her by the back of the head, by the hair, holding her head in place and placed the barrel of a pistol against her shoulder, keeping her still and silent.

When he pulled away, including the gun he smiled a malicious smile and put the gun away in a holster in his belt.

"The perfect wife . . . has good, strong hips . . . to bear sons . . ." Ki stated before violently grabbing Alice's hips and squeezing with all his might to test the strength of Alice's pelvis. Alice groaned in pain trying to get away from him but it was no use.

"Check." He muttered before grabbing her feet suddenly. "The perfect wife has tiny feet . . . the size of a deck of cards . . . or a pack of cigarettes. Chinese foot binding helps achieve this." He chuckled then snapped her feet clear in half, forcing them to stay broken as bones sickly pierced through the skin on the top of her feet. Alice's head whipped back and forth as she became dizzy with pain. Screaming took her breath as the rusty scent filled her nostrils. Tears flooded her eyes as she suffered. The blood trickled from the bone pierced skin, staining white flesh as the pain burned and sent lightning through her body.

Ki then put a gag in Alice's mouth before forcing the bones back into her feet and tying them tightly with the string then sliding her feet into the tiny shoes. Alice then passed out, unable to bear any more pain.

Meanwhile, the others had found their way out of Ki's mind game, since he was distracted. They found their way out of a forest and backtracked to the warehouse after finally finding out where they were. Just as Goku was about to barge through the door Miku held him back.

"Barging in isn't going to work. They'll just shoot at us and we won't get anywhere . . ." he said in a shockingly calm voice.

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Nora asked, folding his arms.

Goku's eyebrows that had been arced with concern and anger for awhile suddenly gave way and became filled with thought. Kari smirked. "We could tunnel our way in."

"We don't have a shovel, idiot." Miku responded.

A large heat source began filling the air and Goku was seen making a large ball of energy. He focused hard and ignored the others who asked what he was doing then blasted the building causing the whole thing to take damage and fall apart, causing some rooms below the main building to be revealed.

Crying was heard echoing through the air and Ki rose from the rubble holding the injured unconscious Alice and two squirming babies. Goku rose with him, staring him down, ready to take action to get Alice and the twins away from him as rain began to pour. Ki smirked.

"I've made some improvements to your wife . . . enjoy." Ki muttered, tossing Alice through the air to Goku.

"As for these two brats . . ." He said, lifting Gerard and Helena by their tails causing them to cry louder and squirm around. Gerard was getting mad, even being as tiny as he was. His power level skyrocketed as he turned red with his squall and an energy field built around him. Ki smirked and tossed Helena at Goku. "The girl has no power . . . but the boy however . . ."

He let go of Gerard's tail and held Gerard normally letting him continue to cry. Gerard squirmed and kicked trying to get out of his arms and Ki held tightly onto him.

"Let him go . . . give him back. I'm warning you one last time. Give me my son." Goku threatened.

"But he's such a valuable asset . . . with Alice as a mother . . . he could be taught magic . . . he already has that gene. This power level of his is incredible. Why should I?"

Goku's hair turned golden and his eyes turned green again. "I WARNED YOU!"

Ki laughed hard and maniacally tossing Gerard to Goku. "It's okay . . . I could have one just like him in about nine months, minus the tail. Alice is a great lover . . . even when unconscious . . . but I will come for my son . . . and if my son dies . . . or you kill him . . . I will come for the tiny ape."

Goku shot an energy blast and hit Ki just before he disappeared in laughter. Goku lowered to the ground, laying Alice on the ground and hugging his two children, kissing their tiny heads and calming them down. The others came up and examined Alice and the two children, noticing Alice's feet and bodily injuries.

"We gotta get her to the hospital." Miku said.

With that, Alice was taken to the hospital and checked out, along with the babies as police were sent to find Ki.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Stitching.

I awoke within confined white walls, much like Ki's torture room but my limbs were free as were my hips. I couldn't feel my feet . . . and I dared not to look at him if they looked as bad as they felt. I forced myself to lift a leg in the air and look at my feet but I was shocked at what I saw. They were back to normal, my foot wasn't bonded together with itself and the bones were back inside my foot. Both feet were in casts but that was to be expected.

Pain wrecked through my hips and abdomen and within. I wondered how long I had been in this state. I felt nauseous and vomited into a garbage can before lying back against the pillows as the pain worsened. A doctor came in and looked me over.

"I see that you are awake Mrs. Son. How are you feeling?" she asked, noticing my pain, eyes widening. "Oh my . . . are you okay?"

I felt my face crinkle up in pain as I felt a pain that was horrible, feeling dizzy again. "My belly hurts." I managed.

The doctor worked quickly, hooking up a machine and using an ultrasound machine examined my innards. Her eyebrows quirked and finally she looked back up at me. "You've miscarried already . . . there's no sign of a fetus. You might just be experiencing cramps."

My eyes widened as my heart rate quickened. "M-Miscarried?"

She bit her lip, looking at me gravely seeming to have trouble conveying the message. It appeared like she was afraid to tell me whatever the news was. "Yes . . . see . . . you were raped and remember how your other doctor said you shouldn't have children for at least a few years? Well . . . the reason is that those children wouldn't survive . . . that's what happens when you have an abruption."

I just looked at her, shocked. "I was raped?"

She nodded, taking my hand giving it an encouraging squeeze. "I'm sorry you had to find out this way."

I shook where I lie and sighed heavily, feeling depressed that he got the better of me, tortured me and raped me and then the visions of my children lightning bolted their way back into my mind in a zap of worry.

"Where are my babies?" I said out of shock, my heart rate quickening as I looked wide eyed on the doctor, fearing the worst.

She looked at me then slowly, a smile spread across her face. Not a frightening one . . . a friendly one. "They're fine. Your husband brought them here with you. One of the people he was with insisted that they be checked out for molestation or diseases possibly obtained whilst they were kidnapped. Police have questioned all of them and have searched for the kidnapper."

I stared at her with slight confusion. "Did they catch him?"

"They have . . . and he is being put on trial. They've used your injuries as evidence and several of his other crimes including drug trafficking and the selling of children. A few of your friends have testified." She said, taking my blood pressure.

I began to stare off into the distance as I relaxed a little. My heart rate was back to normal and the doctor smiled. "How do your feet feel?"

"I can't feel them right now . . . they're rather . . . numb." I said dryly, sighing.

"It's because of medication . . . your feet will never be the same I'm afraid but they are much better than they are when you came in here. You'll be able to walk on them without crutches but it'll hurt."

I sighed looking over my feet, then looked at the ceiling feeling depressed again but thankful my children were okay. Where were they though? I wanted to spend every moment I had with them at this moment. Why aren't they with me?

Suddenly, a voice snapped my out of my strand of thoughts.

"Is she awake? . . ." Goku spoke with a soft voice almost like he was afraid of waking a small child.

"Yep, she's awake. Vitals are great, blood pressure's normal, blood sugar is a little low but we'll send in some food in a bit. Just relax for now." The doctor said before leaving the room.

I didn't dare look at him. My eyes avoided him like he was a virus. I was greeted by a fleet of coldness through my chest. Something I wasn't expecting at all. His hand gripped mine even though mine lay limp.

"Are you alright?" He asked, still speaking very softly.

It was quiet for a little bit before I answered. "N-no . . ."

"Do you need anything?"

"No . . ." I answered again, fixating my eyes on the ceiling.

It was quiet again as his hand began to tighten. Not painfully . . . but reassuringly. Both of his hands grasped mine now and quaked violently.

"Alice . . . I . . . I'm sorry."

I sighed shaking my head and bit my lower lip, forcing tears to contain themselves and began shaking, causing my heart rate to rise.

"I didn't know. I didn't know you were depressed. If I had known . . . I would have helped more." He still spoke in a soft wavering voice.

"Y-you . . . you did all you could . . . you were working three jobs." I said quietly.

"I know . . . but . . . I remember we didn't speak. We argued over the stupidest things and well . . . at one point, I thought you wanted a divorce."

Hearing the word and thinking it caused pain to shoot through me and tears to spring to my eyes. I still kept turned away from him . . . starting to shake.

"Alice, I don't want a divorce . . . I love you . . . okay?" Goku said squeezing my hands tighter. "I know it hasn't been easy . . . and I know it's hard but . . . I wanna make this work."

Warmth now spread to my heart as I felt stupid but giddy and happy for the first time in awhile and I turned to him, tears streaming down my face. Our eyes met, for the first time in several months, they met and locked in place. Unmoving, unblinking or twitching, they met and they held an embrace.

"Alice . . ." his eyes grew slightly shocked and wider.

Then . . .

I kissed him, closing my still crying eyes, kissing him with quivering lips and hanging onto him in a tight embrace. Eventually he melted into the kiss as well, placing his large arms around me.

When the kiss broke, he held my upper body to his chest and I cried into his chest. "You're an idiot . . ." I choked out.

His voice remained soft and heart-filled. "What do you mean?"

"There was nothing wrong with us . . . there never was. You didn't do anything wrong . . . I was just depressed, it happens to a lot of women after the baby is born. I NEVER wanted a divorce . . . I love you . . . I love our babies . . . I love life!" I kept crying harder and he held me close rubbing my back and tilted my chin up to make me look at him and kissed me on the lips making my tears diminish.

He held me until I was breathing normally then let go of me and smiled at me. I smiled back at him and rested.

A week later I was able to go home and be with my beautiful twins again. I spent every waking moment I could with them and even watched them sleep, thankful they were alive and well. Even as our friends offered to babysit so Goku and I could have some time alone, I declined. I decided I didn't want my babies out of my sight for a long time. Goku helped me care for them and we didn't have one bitter moment . . . he even helped cook dinner and change the twins. I couldn't have been happier.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Epilogue

"DADDY!" A thunderous voice quaked through the house as Goku came through the door, home from work. Tiny footsteps pounded on the floor as the dangerous duo ran through the house from Alice's lap down to greet their father just arriving from work, carrying in the cold from the December winds outside as night had fully set in. Alice hesitantly smiled and arose from the rocking chair that still remained in the twins' room and slowly descended down the hall and downstairs as the twins were all over Goku, practically pinning him to the floor.

"Daddy, today I got to catch a fish and I watched while Mommy cooked it and it was so YUMMY! Um . . . even though it was tiny." Gerard exclaimed until he admitted the size of his catch.

Helena hung off his arm as he was kicking his boots off, eagerly listening to Gerard's story. Then it was Helena's turn to tell of her day. "Daddy, I helped Mommy make cookies and they're yummy! We need all the practice we can get when Santa comes in a few days!"

"Hey! I helped too!" Gerard butted in as Goku finally stood putting Gerard on his shoulders and held Helena in one arm.

"Nuh uh! All you did was eat cookie dough!" Helena argued.

Gerard frowned and Goku chuckled causing both of sets of ears to perk up. "Eating cookie dough is helping too! It's called taste testing."

Gerard started laughing as Goku made his way into the kitchen, sitting both of the children down carefully and heading to the stove where Alice was reheating the dinner she had prepared earlier. He hugged her from behind kissing her on the cheek, still making her blush after all of these years.

Helena climbed up onto the table with the assistance of a chair and Gerard followed, sitting on the table top as Goku brought his dinner to the table. They both sat and excitedly told them several details about their day and he commented on every one of them.

Alice sat at the end of the table, smiling as she watched the two small children ogle over their hero. A knock came at the door and the children hopped down from the table excitedly and ran to it, yelling how there was someone at the door. Alice calmly rose from her seat and opened the door to let Miku, Sapphie, Kari and Nora enter each carrying a bag.

"Uncle Miku!" both children exclaimed and dived onto Miku causing him to growl a little.

"Alright, alright! I just came through the door, get off of me!" Miku yelled and Gerard dropped to the floor, laughing but Helena hung on by his arm, smiling innocently and batting her eyes causing him to give in and pick her up, holding her upside down by her tiny ankles.

"Careful!" Alice warned, tensing up as Miku swung her daughter back and forth by her ankles.

"I got her, I got her! It's okay!" Miku said tossing Helena up through the air and catching her. Alice finally breathed easier when Helena was on the ground. Miku headed upstairs ignoring the complaining Gerard.

"Why not me?! Why not me!? I wanna do that too!"

Sapphie tickled Gerard's slightly pudgy sides and smiled. "It's because you're too big for him to pick up! You're all grown up!"

The frown still stayed glued to his face. "But Mommy picks me up all the time . . ."

Alice picked him up and hugged him tightly kissing him on the forehead. "Uncle Miku is probably really tired sweetie . . . everyone's really tired. Isn't it past your bedtime?"

Gerard sighed and nodded. "Yeah I guess so."

"Both of you go get ready for bed . . . brush your teeth and put your toys away. Daddy and I will be up in a minute to tuck you in." She said softly, kissing both children on the forehead. "We have to go get a Christmas tree tomorrow."

They both ran upstairs like it was a race and did as their mother said. Alice went to everyone hugging them and helping them with their things and getting them settled then finally went back downstairs to Goku who was leaning against the sink, mindlessly trying to help clean up the dishes, falling asleep amongst the bubbles. Alice took his hand pulling him away from them and kissed him to wake him.

"Huh? What?" Goku said tiredly, still waking up.

"Come on dear, we have two sleepy children to tuck in." Alice said softly turning the lights off in downstairs area, leading Goku upstairs.

Gerard and Helena lay in their beds, fighting sleep with the excitement they had about the following day. They tucked both children in, plugged in a nightlight for them then headed into their bedroom, stripping down into pajamas and lying in bed together.

Alice rubbed his back. "How was your day?"

"It was alright . . ." Goku spoke through a yawn. "Yours?"

"Still trying to find a job . . . no luck I'm afraid . . ."

"We'll be okay . . ." he said with a smile. "Just don't worry about it right now . . . the kids are still little . . . they're only four . . . I know you don't want to leave them home alone or with a babysitter too often."

"Yeah . . . but when I got my bachelor's degree in psychology, I thought it would be easier to find a job. I guess they don't like the fact that I can't work full time . . ."

Goku kissed her and held her close to him shutting his eyes. "It'll be okay . . . one of these days you'll be able to be a great psychologist or something . . . you'll make it. I got faith in you."

Alice blushed and kissed his cheek. "Goku . . . there's something I think I should tell you."

"Hmm, what's that?" he asked.

"I'm pregnant . . . we're going to have another baby."

Goku tensed up a little, feeling a little nervous but he smiled and kissed Alice deeply. "That's wonderful news . . . I'm happy."

"I love you Goku." Alice whispered.

Goku's hand touched Alice's currently flat stomach. "I love you too."

_**The End!~ Hope you enjoyed the entire story to all of the maybe 0.5 of you who read it. I finished this story within four months! :D WOO! NEW RECORD! I'll admit some of it could be better written but oh well, too late now. I will be getting back to Apple Blossoms of Love A.S.A.P. and I'll be starting a Hey Arnold! Fanfiction that's basically a parody of a certain famous movie ;D. I might also start a LancexClair (Pokemon) fanfiction if I can get a story in mind. Seeya later! Happy New Year!**_


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